Key challenges and lessons learned

Strong national commitment and leadership are indispensable in advancing development priorities, including through multisectoral and intersectoral collaboration that can facilitate progress and drive positive change for society. Therefore, advocacy efforts to promote the 2030 Agenda and continuous dialogue with the Government, as well as identification of opportunities for the consolidation of collaboration within and across sectors under the leadership of the Government will remain key to the work of UNCT. The newly established Ministry of Sustainable Development, in particular, may play an important role in strengthening coordination among different stakeholders and mobilizing the necessary expertise and resources for the achievement of the SDGs.

The limited availability of financial and human resources continued to constrain progress on development results. UNCT benefited from significant government funding and support from other development partners and relied on sizeable in-kind agency contributions to implement its programmes and projects during the year. However, the resources available were insufficient to cover planned activities fully, with further resource mobilization efforts being required.

The changes in the structure and composition of the Government in 2022 impacted the implementation of some activities and required the rethinking of others, given that priorities needed to be reconfirmed and programmes needed to be adjusted in line with any new expectations. At the same time, the restructuring of the Government opened new opportunities for collaboration, especially with the establishment of the Ministry of Sustainable Development, which demonstrates the firm commitment of the Government in advancing the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs.

The unprecedented scope of the 2030 Agenda requires that all levels of government, development partners, civil society, private sector, think tanks, academic institutions and the general public work in tandem to achieve the SDGs. At the same time, participatory mechanisms need to be put in place to facilitate the meaningful engagement of those most disadvantaged and marginalized to ensure that the benefits of development are distributed in an equitable manner. Therefore, the strengthening of partnerships across the board, including with the private sector which holds underexplored potential for development, and ensuring the engagement of women, youth, people with disabilities and other disadvantaged groups in development processes will need to be further prioritized.

More than half of United Nations entities working in Bahrain implement their activities through sub-regional and regional offices, where one third are physically present. While appreciating the overall delivery footprint in 2022, in-country presence remains an asset for regular engagement with partners and effective programming. Further ways of engagement need to be explored to ensure that all UN entities can contribute to the development of Bahrain in the most effective manner possible.

The availability of timely and accurate data, including disaggregated data, is essential to ensuring that development challenges are appropriately identified and development efforts respond effectively to existing needs. Data availability is also crucial to assessing progress towards the achievement of national development priorities and the SDGs. Continuous efforts are required to consolidate the national statistical system and streamline SDG monitoring and reporting process in the country, with the VNR process providing an excellent opportunity to identify gaps in available data and opportunities for the improvement of national statistical capacities.