High Level Political Forum, New York, July 2018 Side event THE SDGS IN ACTION

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1 High Level Political Forum, New York, July 2018 Side event THE SDGS IN ACTION WORKING TOGETHER FOR INCLUSIVE, SAFE, RESILIENT AND SUSTAINABLE CITIES AND HUMAN SETTLEMENTS Your Excellencies, ladies and gentleman As was reported yesterday in the VNR so capably by my colleague Mr. Mutawa, the Minister of Cabinet Affairs in Bahrain, the successful delivery of the Millennium Development Goals has laid a solid foundation for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by Bahrain. Bahrain has already made great strives in this direction with the absence of extreme poverty, a solid economic growth that is benefitting all, free public healthcare, and free education with a very high enrollment for primary and secondary levels, and a Constitution that guarantees gender equality. The private sector is a key development partner contributing to a low 1

2 unemployment. The coverage of safe water, sanitation and clean energy networks reached 100%. As far as the housing sector is concerned so far 65% of the population benefited from public housing services and this percentage is further increased with an additional 40,000 units in five new sustainable cities being developed. On this point I would like to stress that the Bahrain government subsidizes the provision of housing to its citizens substantially whereby on average the repayment by the citizens will only cover 25% of the actual cost. The distribution of the housing units to Bahrain s citizens is fair and transparent,providing equal access to government housing programmes for all Bahrainis. Bahrain s housing programme therefore can be truly called none-discriminatory and extremely sociable and is matched by only few countries in the world as is widely recognized, nationally and internationally. For Bahrain the notion that when people are living in adequate homes they have better health and higher chances to improve their human capital and seize the opportunities that urbanization offers has been has been realized early on, as early as the 1960 s. Bahrain s housing programme has and continues to function as a development multiplier benefiting 2

3 complementary industries, contributing to economic development, employment generation, service provision and overall poverty reduction. Government s decenia long policy to allocate large portions of its budget to this social agenda leaves no one behind. Your Excellencies, ladies and gentleman The global housing challenge is a serious one. More than 50 percent of the world s population lives in cities and by 2030, probably 1.5 billion people will be added to the urban population. It are the SDG s and in particular goal 11 that will be guiding us in building urban areas that will allow existing and new city dwellers to prosper. The agreement on a standalone goal in SDGs on cities and human settlements was therefore monumental and reflects the increased attention on urban as a development theme at the global level. As we all are aware SDG 11 is directly linked to targets and indicators in almost all other SDGs and a large number of the indicators can be measured at the urban level, making the city the core area were achieving sustainability can be won or lost. 3

4 In line with the SDG s, Bahrain s government action plan reflects the Government of Bahrain s strategic priorities over the next four years and focuses on delivering sustainable change. Built upon the principles of sustainability, transparency, justice and competitiveness, the Government Action Plan seeks to capitalize on the Kingdom s resources and capabilities to meet the needs of all Bahrainis. It identifies six strategic pillars aligned with the SDG, Agenda 2030 and the New Urban Agenda with the majority of the SDG objectives included in the current program. This alignment will continue in future plans and will strengthen Bahrain s progress. Your Excellencies, ladies and gentleman To conclude, I would like to mention a number of important activities that Bahrain is working on together with the UN-family that have a direct and positive effect on the achievements of the SDGs. Firstly, a Strategic Partnership Framework was signed late 2017 between the Government of Bahrain and 16 UN Agencies, marking an important milestone in the relationship between Bahrain and the United Nations. I am happy to inform you that in July this year a SPF Follow-Up Meeting is scheduled for UN agencies to finalize the submission of initiatives. 4

5 As part of this, the ongoing cooperation between UNDP and UN- Habitat project, supporting the Ministry of Housing in reviewing the current housing policy. We welcome UN-Habitat taking part in the SPF meeting to submit a concept notes on Phase II of the National Housing Policy Review and another on the State of Arab Cities Report 2020 to the SPF. I also would like to mentioned the collaboration between Bahrain, Angola, Bulgaria, Malaysia and Paraguay initiated by UN-Habitat to establish a longer-term collaboration for affordable housing solutions. This is as a unique example of a partnership seeking to catalyze efforts in the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. In addition the contributions of the Sustainable Energy Unit in developing the National Renewable Energy Action Plan and the National Energy Efficiency Action Plan with its impact on the SDG s should be recognized. And lastly the comprehensive efforts of the Government of Bahrain in the Voluntary National Review process and the organization of 3 high-level side events are illustrative of its commitments to the 2030 Agenda and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. 5

6 Your Excellencies, ladies and gentleman That Bahrain is on the right track in leaving no one behind is also evident from the granting to His Royal Highness Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa the UNHabitat Special Citation to the Scroll of Honor Bahrain has followed the path of putting housing at the core of development since its early days and we are continuing on it with renewed vigor. Thank you. 6