The Minister of Social Development and acting Minister of Health Dr. Fatima Al Balushi revealed number of authorized community organizations in the Kingdom were 526. The announcement was made during Dr. Al Balushi’s participation in the “creativity forum” held in Khobar where she presented Bahrain’s pioneering experience in voluntary work.
The forum was held in cooperation with the Voluntary Work Society under the patronage of the wife of the Eastern Province Prince, Princess Jowhra bint Nayef in which Dr Balushi was the main speaker.
The minister spoke about the ministry’s initiatives with regard to the reinforcement of voluntary work in society through the launch of several national development projects aimed at embedding the culture of voluntary work among people.
The Minister also affirmed that the civic sector was one that is appreciated and supported by the Bahraini government through the ministry’s effort towards developing it. Dr. Al Balushi said that the private sector had pumped around BD350, 000 annually towards the budget of the social fund. This she indicated helped in financing civic society projects via the financial funding programme.
Dr Al Balushi also highlighted the role played by the Economic Development Board in cooperation with the ministry to plan out the social policies to go hand-in-hand with the Economic Vision 2030.