In the field of education, around 150 administrators, service providers and decision makers became better equipped to plan, regulate and deliver early childhood development services following their participation in capacity strengthening initiatives supported by the United Nations. In addition, some 100 teachers, administrators and decision makers increased their awareness of online safety and prevention of bullying. As a result of the additional capacity development efforts implemented with the support of the United Nations during the year, over 300 education professionals increased their knowledge and skills to provide quality education services.

The mainstreaming of SDGs in higher education was also strengthened. More specifically, a 13-module policymakers course on Gender and Economic Policy Management became available to students following its development and validation by the University of Bahrain with the support of the United Nations. In addition, the university faculty improved their capacities in the delivery of a PhD course on SDGs through their participation in a training session for trainers, and work on the development of an SDG strategy for the University of Bahrain moved forward.

In the field of health, the United Nations continued to support the implementation of the National Action Plan 2019-2022 by promoting ‘Health for All by All’ in close partnership with the Ministry of Health and several other institutions. As a result of these efforts, in 2021, Bahrain became the first country in the region to develop a national action plan to improve access to assistive technology in line with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the commitment to achieve Universal Health Coverage, as well as the SDGs more broadly. A SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-based) action plan for strengthening national tobacco control efforts was also developed. Both documents benefited from United Nations expertise at different stages of their development.

The capacity of health care professionals to deliver quality services was further strengthened. Over 30 in-country trainers, representing the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education, gained increased knowledge and skills in school mental health and another 60 became better prepared to advance the achievement of Universal Health Coverage through the capacity development activities implemented by the United Nations. Moreover, the participation of the Ministry of Health focal points in at least five regional capacity development activities on different health care topics was facilitated.

Additional notable results in the field included the strengthening of partnerships for health in the country, including through the implementation of an SDG stakeholder mapping and fostering the participation of communities in health-related initiatives. Efforts were also made to help address the rising mortality rate from noncommunicable diseases in the country, including through high-level policy advice and technical support, as well as to raise awareness around the significant burden of risk and harm that women and newborns are exposed to if receiving unsafe care during childbirth.

At the local level, WHO designated Manama as a Healthy City 2021 in recognition of achievements in the last few decades in education and literacy, health, water and sanitation, food safety and air pollution, a recognition also awarded to Um Al Hassam in 2018. The designation was based on a process of assessment and field visits in addition to a series of capacity building, advocacy and coordination efforts led by the Ministry of Health with the support of the United Nations.

The protection of vulnerable and disadvantaged groups is a top priority for the United Nations as an organization, which continuously takes significant steps to achieve this goal. As a result, approximately 200 persons of concern received information on asylum procedures and benefited from counselling in 2021, the capacity of over 30 frontline workers to respond to cases of trafficking in persons was strengthened, and 75 children increased their awareness about online safety and the prevention of bullying.

The above were only a few results achieved in this field. Given the cross-cutting nature of the principle of leaving no one behind underlying the work aimed at the protection of vulnerable and disadvantaged groups, results in this area are to be found throughout this report.