Outcome 4: Bahrain among nations

With United Nations support, the Government of Bahrain strengthened its position as a State party to international instruments. Several efforts contributed to this result, including the ratification of the Minamata Convention on Mercury, the development of a National Implementation Plan for the Stockholm Convention via a multi-stakeholder consultative process and the consolidation of capacity for the implementation of the Montreal Protocol, among others.

The United Nations in Bahrain also facilitated the country’s participation in regional and global events for knowledge and experience sharing in the field of sustainable development, such as the Global Compact for Migration Regional Review Forum for the Arab Region and the Briefing for Member States on the International Migration Review Forum, the Intergovernmental Forum on Combating Trafficking in Persons in the Middle East, the sixty-eighth session of the WHO Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean, as well as several others mentioned in this report and beyond.

The image of Bahrain as a model of good practice was further enhanced in 2021 with significant technical support and input from the United Nations. For example, the year saw the launch of the Regional Centre of Excellence for Capacity Building in the Field of Combating Trafficking in Persons – the first of its kind in the region. The centre will not only strengthen the capacity to combat trafficking in persons and improve services for victims of trafficking among professionals in Bahrain but will also serve the broader region, ensuring that relevant knowledge and expertise is transferred to other countries.

In addition, the COVID-19 success stories reported by Bahrain, as well as progress on health-related SDGs, were documented to share best practices in the field among health professionals and Bahraini legislation on the use of non-custodial measures and penalties was presented at the regional level as an example to follow. Furthermore, Bahrain was included as a case study in the report entitled “Volunteerism and the State in the Arab World: Toward Building an Inclusive Society”, being acknowledged as one of the countries in the Arab region that offers innovative models of the volunteer/State relationship that can be emulated to create more sustainable and inclusive societies.

To support youth engagement in sustainable development, the United Nations, in partnership with the Ministry of Youth and Sport Affairs and five youth-serving organizations, implemented the seventh edition of the Youth Leadership Programme. The programme resulted in the development of social innovation ideas by seven teams, each with a unique social innovation approach that tackles a real challenge in Bahrain and the region.

Three global awards offered by the Kingdom of Bahrain or in partnership with Bahrain-based organizations were also made during the year with the support of the United Nations, including the fourth edition of the King Hamad Youth Empowerment Award to Achieve the SDGs, the Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al-Khalifa Global Award for Women’s Empowerment and the third edition of Prince Mohammad bin Fahd International Foundation Insignia for Best Voluntary Work. All three awards promote the achievement of SDGs by recognizing outstanding efforts among different organizations, groups and individuals in the field.

Moreover, over 200 youth from several civil society organizations gained increased awareness about the role of volunteerism in achieving the SDGs following their participation in an awareness raising initiative organized by the United Nations in partnership with the Kaaf Humanitarian organization.

In 2021, the United Nations contributed to the strengthening of the capacity of civil society organizations to engage with human rights mechanisms through targeted training, with three training sessions being organized for this purpose. The capacity of the Special Investigations Unit, tasked with the investigation of allegations of torture, was also enhanced through a training session on United Kingdom Office of Policing Standards delivered in partnership with the Office of the Ombudsman of the Ministry of Interior.