Ban Ki-moon takes pride in winning Khalifa bin Salman Award

Manama, Nov. 19 (BNA): Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed delight in winning the Khalifa bin Salman Award for Sustainable Development confers on individuals and institutions who contribute to achieving goals of sustainable development and millennium development. In a special interview with Bahrain TV Channel 55, Ban Ki-moon said that he couldn’t be more proud of receiving the award personally form HRH the Prime Minister Prince Salman bin Khalifa Al Khalifa. He affirmed that it was an impetus to continue effort to disseminate awareness of the significance of achieving the sustainable development goals. Ban Ki-moon paid tribute to the visions of HM King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and HRH the Prime Minister and their efforts to lead the development process of Bahrain, stressing Bahrain is a role model to other countries in promoting religious tolerance and embracing various cultures and faiths. He praised the development seen by Bahrain in various fields under the royal leadership and the government’s efforts to provide comprehensive health services to citizens and residents alike. He said his visit to Bahrain was to participate in the first GCC health forum, noting its importance in supporting the implementation of the third sustainable development goal on creating a health community as health is the cornerstone of any developed community. He said 35% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) goes for spending on education and health services, which is a model that many countries wish to follow. He lauded the implementation of the comprehensive social policies in support of the economic development. He said the reason behind the launch of the Ban Ki-moon Center for global citizens stems from his will to continue working to promote empowerment of the youth, women and other categories who do not receive adequate support by establishing cooperation with competent parties, chiefly heads of states and governments and influential executives and politicians to achieve the SDGs. Ban Ki-moon affirmed looking forward to broadening cooperation and partnerships with the Kingdom of Bahrain to achieve SDGs.