The follow-up and coordination committee between the Government of the Kingdom of Bahrain and the resident and regional United Nations agencies held its first meeting today at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the presence of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for International Affairs, Dr Shaikh Abdullah bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, the United Nations Resident Representative, Amin El Sharkawi, with the membership of representatives from the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Cabinet Affairs and the Office of the First Deputy Prime Minister. 

Dr. Shaikh Abdullah said that the signing of the strategic partnership framework (2018-2022) by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, on October 24, 2017, is the result of a series of consultations and discussions over two years between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the United Nations Resident Coordinator.
Discussions covered all available means to enhance existing cooperation and to prevent duplication of initiatives and projects in order to achieve maximum utilization while rationalizing expenditure within the framework of the 2015-2018 Government Plan of Action and the Bahrain Economic Vision 2030 as well as in line with the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals 2030. 
It was presented to the Coordinating Committee under the chairmanship of His Royal Highness the First Deputy Prime Minister and approved by the Cabinet at its meeting held on October 23, 2017. This confirms that the Kingdom of Bahrain regards this framework as a sign of its commitment to strengthen cooperation with the United Nations and its agencies. 
Dr. Shaikh Abdullah pointed out that the follow-up and coordination committee is one of the outcomes of launching the strategic partnership framework, which is the first of its kind in the region to exchange experiences and benefit from the international organization's expertise in supporting future projects in the Kingdom. 
This is in the context of the distinguished and strong cooperation relationship between the Kingdom and the United Nations, which culminated in the creation of a clear umbrella for the development of partnership between the two sides. 
The Undersecretary for International Affairs said that the results of the Committee's work will contribute to supporting the goals of sustainable development and focusing on national priorities, foremost of which is optimal investment in the human element through providing an enabling and stimulating environment, which will be driven by advanced initiatives and efforts to take into account the needs of citizens in accordance with the highest standards and international quality standards. 
Dr. Shaikh Abdulla said that the areas of promoting sustainable economic growth, improving the level of infrastructure, expanding the use of renewable energy resources, building a map of new investments and entrepreneurship, enhancing statistical and informatics capacities, advanced training programs are the important area of current and future cooperation with the United Nations. 
He expressed his pride in the existing cooperation relations with the United Nations and the mutual benefits that will result from the government's technical and technological support provided by the various UN agencies, which is in line with the development agenda in the Kingdom. 
Meanwhile, the international organization will transfer Bahrain's advanced expertise in several fields as successful models to be emulated by other countries, especially that Bahrain is an active and influential member of the United Nations and it is recognized and respected by countries across the world thanks to the leadership of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and the credibility of its policies and its conformity with international law, presenting a leading international model for reform, sustainable development and peace. 
El Sharkawi thanked the Government of the Kingdom of Bahrain and the United Nations agencies for their hard work in producing the Strategic Partnership Framework, which is an unprecedented step in the region, making it a model for identifying lessons learned and best practices from the work of UN agencies in the field of policy and program development, and the development and implementation of initiatives and projects to serve the Kingdom of Bahrain. He affirmed his confidence that the Committee will follow up the implementation of projects and achieve the desired benefits. 
During its meeting, the Committee discussed the issues on its agenda, including the cooperation projects signed in 2017 within the country program of action with the Bahrain Center for Strategic, International and Energy Studies, the Bahrain Institute of Public Administration and the Ministry of Housing, as well as the cooperation projects to be signed during this December with the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and the Youth and Sports Affairs, and the the Information & eGovernment Authority. The best way to implement the strategic cooperation agreement between the Kingdom of Bahrain and the United Nations was also discussed. 
The committee also considered requests from ministries in Bahrain to join a number of international agencies and organizations, as well as an overview of the financial and administrative summary of 2017 for United Nations offices and programmes in the Kingdom.