During the year, the United Nations supported the staff of the Ministry of Works, Municipality Affairs and Urban Planning to improve their knowledge and skills in the identification of livestock breeds and their risk status through capacity development efforts, allowing for targeted measures and policies to be put in place to ensure their conservation and sustainable use. The preparation of strategies for the conservation and sustainable use of breeds along with the national report on animal genetic resources was in progress at the end of the year.

Strengthening climate change adaptation and mitigation capacities remained a priority for the United Nations in Bahrain during the year, with concrete steps being taken to this end. A total of 35 experts from relevant entities increased their knowledge and skills in climate seasonal forecasting, sand and dust storm forecasting, and hydrology and water resource assessment.

Bahrain also participated in the Arab and Gulf Cooperation Council climate outlook forums with the United Nations support and benefited from technical advice in the establishment of a sand and dust storm regional centre in Bahrain. The centre was expected to be created once it met all the required criteria for such a facility.

Climate change being inextricably linked to water quality and availability, significant time and effort were allocated for the promotion of technologies for responsible water demand management in the country, resulting in the availability of a beta version of a Knowledge Management Platform for the collection and processing of water-related data. A water planning module was also being developed as part of the platform to help inform the allocation of scarce water resources, with adequate training being provided to stakeholders to ensure its efficient use. The formulation of guidelines and completion of pilots for the safe reuse of water resources were among a few other results achieved with the support of the United Nations in the field.

In the area of food security and nutrition, the United Nations policy advice and thought leadership was instrumental in the drafting of a new National Food Security Strategy, which outlined a comprehensive approach to ensuring the availability of sufficient, safe and nutritious food for all people in Bahrain. At the same time, the consumption of a healthy, nutritionally adequate diet was promoted through the development of context-embedded and evidence-driven food-based dietary guidelines.

To further enhance food security in the country, the capacity of the National Mariculture Centre was consolidated through support provided for the improvement of brood stock management and hatchery facilities, diversification of aquaculture produce and training delivery. In line with the “One Health” approach to human and animal health, a multistakeholder technical team was also established to facilitate the detection, prevention and control of animal diseases, enabling the incorporation of a wide range of needs in the process. Lastly, with the support of the United Nations, a draft Strategic Plan for Agriculture Statistics was finalized, and a relevant methodology was put in place to further contribute to building the capacity of national staff to independently collect, process, analyse and publish agriculture statistics, particularly on crops and livestock.