Information Minister: BIPD programmes evaluated

Manama, May 18 (BNA): Information Minister and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Bahrain Institute for Political Development (BIPD) Ali bin Mohammed Al Rumaihi said the current year would be a turning point in BIPD work with an evaluation of the institution’s programmes, training sessions and workshops held since BIPD inception. He was speaking at the conclusion of a workshop on human rights in Bahraini laws and international conventions which was held as part of a programme on parliamentary skills for the Shura Council. The workshop was organised by BIPD for the Shura Council members, in the presence of Shura Council Chairman Ali bin Saleh Al Saleh and the Information Minister. It was presented by legal expert and advisor Dr. Ahmed Al Farhan. The workshop aims to hone the skills of the Shura Council members in interpreting and formulating legal texts on human rights and boost their capabilities to communicate with government and non-government organisations as well as international human rights organisations. It focused on topics related to concordance of Bahraini laws with international human rights agreements. The Information Minister expressed hope cooperation between BIPD and various national institutions would continue, pointing out that one of the institution’s main goals is to promote the culture of political and legal work in Bahrain in line with the royal vision to enable Bahraini citizens to exercise their political rights with high awareness and possess the needed skills for that. On the institute’s future programmes, the Information Minister said that BIPD is currently making an evaluation of the programmes presented over the past decade, pointing out 2016 scheme which is targeting all the Bahraini community and the specificity of the Bahraini experience. Concerning the workshop which concluded today, he lauded Bahrain’s widely-acknowledged stories of success in the human rights field, stressing the institute’s keenness to train the competent parties in the essence of human rights and the kingdom’s commitment in this respect with its access to many international conventions. On his part, the Shura Council Chairman praised the tremendous efforts of BIPD to tap on the political and development potentials of the Bahraini people, including particularly members of the legislative branch, by holding various training sessions and workshops to promote parliamentary work in Bahrain. He hailed the great efforts made by the BIPD Board of Trustees Chairman and the executive directorate headed by Dr. Yasser Al Alawi. Al Saleh also pointed out the importance of the training sessions in further improving the high performance of the Shura Council members, stressing ongoing cooperation with competent authorities in this regard.