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HRH Premier highlights Bahrain's strides to achieve SDGs, protect environment

SDGs Bahrain News
HRH Premier highlights Bahrain's strides to achieve SDGs, protect environment
05/10/2019

Manama, Oct. 5 (BNA): His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa has stressed that achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030, approved by the United Nations, requires serious international partnership in supporting communities to move on the right path towards progress, especially as the world is currently experiencing numerous political, security and environmental challenges that have negatively affected countries' plans to improve their economic conditions.In a message to the world marking the World Habitat Day, which will be observed worldwide on Monday, October 7, the Prime Minister stressed the need for sustainable development processes in all societies to operate according to mechanisms and programmes that are efficient, flexible and able to anticipate the challenges and requirements of the future, and that these programmes should be directly linked to the needs and priorities of the citizens, and contribute to improving their lives in a sustainable way to ensure quality life for them.HRH Premier highlighted the important role played by the United Nations and its specialised agencies in assisting countries and communities to achieve SDGs by providing them with technical and research advice to enable them to shorten their time and embark on development on a firm basis that would suit their immediate and future needs.

 Under the leadership of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, Bahrain has attached great attention to the issues of sustainable development and the preservation of the environment, out of its keenness to fulfill its international obligations in this field, and belief in the collective responsibility to preserve the planet in the face of all dangers, the Premier said.HRH the Prime Minister called on the International Community to focus on providing the elements that guarantee security, peace and stability, and this, he said, will only be achieved through the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by the United Nations.

 HRH Premier pointed out that this year's World Habitat Day’s theme, “Frontier Technologies as an innovative tool to transform waste to wealth”, is of special importance because it focuses on a crucial issue, noting that addressing environmental challenges, including waste, should be a priority in the next phase because it is linked to the present and future of humanity. "The desire of some countries to achieve high development rates should not be a direct or indirect cause of the destruction of nature and the imbalance of the environment,” the Premier warned.The Prime Minister called on the industrialised and technologically advanced countries to increase their positive contributions in this regard, stressing that more joint coordination, studies and serious international cooperation are required to preserve the environment’s purity and sustainability, as there is no future for humanity without a safe, healthy and balanced environment, he said.HRH Premier indicated that over the past years, the Kingdom has paid attention to development issues through a set of ambitious programmes and strategies, and that it has succeeded in achieving the majority of the Sustainable Development Goals 2030 in accordance with a national vision in which all sectors have participated.HRH the Prime Minister pointed out that the Government Action Plan 2019-2022 had placed the provision of a supportive environment for sustainable development among its priority list, in line with the goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, by focusing on the objectives of achieving sustainable cities and communities, as well as the protection of climate, marine and wildlife.The Premier added that Bahrain, out of its interest in honouring its international obligations, has ratified many regional and international conventions, treaties and protocols related to the protection of the environment and achieving sustainable development, including waste management, in line with its belief in the importance of international cooperation on everything that serves humanity and provides it with means of progress and prosperity.

 The Prime Minister stressed that the Kingdom has adopted an integrated waste management strategy in accordance with the best internationally recognised health, environmental and technical practices with the aim of reducing waste and recycling it in order to transform it into vital and profitable projects and utilize it in energy production.HRH Premier affirmed that Bahrain has achieved great successes in the field of sustainable development commensurate with the requirements of growth and development in the housing, education, health, environmental and economic sectors, and contributed, through its numerous initiatives in various international gatherings, to pushing international efforts towards the achievement of SDGs.The Prime Minister emphasised that all development issues are necessary for all peoples of the earth to move to a state of growth and development that would lead to achieving the best rates of economic, social and political well-being.These noble goals can be achieved only through mobilising all international efforts and directing them towards enhancing the means of joint cooperation to attain comprehensive development with the provision of an effective international will on the part of all concerned parties to support that, HRH Premier said.Concluding his message, HRH the Prime Minister praised the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), expressing his satisfaction with the level of the on-going cooperation between Bahrain and UN-Habitat on everything aimed at providing the requirements of security, stability and civilisational development.HRH the Prime Minister called on UN-Habitat to play a greater role in achieving SDGs and to develop plans and programmes that would enhance the efforts of communities towards development and prosperity.