MANAMA: His Highness, Shaikh Ali Bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, Deputy Prime Minister, who attended the opening session of the second session of the high-level Arab Forum on Sustainable Development, underlined the government’s keenness to build on successes that have been achieved in terms of sustainable development through plans and programmes aimed at improving the overall living conditions of the citizens.
Delegated by His Royal Highness Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, Prime Minister, HH Shaikh Ali conveyed to the Forum organizers and participants greetings from His Royal Highness the Prime Minister and his wishes to reach useful results and recommendations that would contribute to promoting sustainable development, regionally and internationally.
The event is organized by the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) in collaboration with the League of Arab States.
He went on to stress that the Kingdom of Bahrain is proud that is one of the first countries that have met most of the Millennium Development Goals ahead of schedule in terms of providing free education, women empowerment, gender equality, expansion of social welfare and enhanced standard of health care. Therefore, Bahrain has occupied an outstanding position for many consecutive years in the United Nations’ human and sustainable development reports as well as those issued by specialized institutions.
HH also stressed that security and stability are key in implementing international community’s goals in terms of sustainable development and assisting nations meet their peoples’ aspirations for further prosperity. He said that ensuring the world’s security and stability is primarily related to ending causes of tensions and conflicts radically, noting such goal requires reaching an international collective perception on how to improve living conditions of peoples in different countries.
He stressed that it is important for the Forum to study the possibility of developing a unified Arab system that could ensure security and stability in the region, elevate its living conditions and cement its ability to face political, security and economic challenges.
He also pointed to the need to build on the Millennium Development Goals that have already been accomplished by Arab states, and move positively to provide a comprehensive Arab vision for the post-2015 era, which takes into account current needs in terms of development and future priorities.
“We are confident that those knowledgeable participants in this high-level Forum will be able to manage it wisely and effectively, HH sheikh Ali said.