Bahrain is the only Arab country to win two awards this year, beside Thailand and South Korea, following Brazil which took him three awards. The rest of the countries, 10, won only one award
The National Contact Centre (NCC), under the management of Silah Gulf, topped the list by winning first place amongst the Western Asia region within the category ‘Promoting Whole-of-Government Approaches in the Information Age’; along with the National Health Information System (I-SEHA) winning second place amongst the Western Asia region within the category ‘Improving the Delivery of Public Services’.
Bahrain’s delegation was chaired by the eGovernment Authority (eGA) Chief Executive Officer Mohamed Ali Al-Qaed who received the award on behalf of NCC, representing the eGovernment Authority.
The head of Ministry’s delegation, Health Ministry Training and Planning Assistant Undersecretary Dr. Hala Ibrahim Al-Mehza’ received the award on behalf of Health Ministry during the awarding ceremony. The conclusion ceremony was held at the Korea International Exhibition Center (KINTEX) Gyeonggi Province in South Korea; on 26th June 2014.
Hongbo Wu UN-DESA Under-Secretary-General visited Bahrain’s stand at the winning projects exhibition, accompanying the forum; where he attended AlQaed’s presentation about the Kingdom’s experience in public service and communication.
“The eGovernment Authority is proud of such achievement made by the Kingdom of Bahrain in the eGovernment and public service arena in compliance with the best international practices and certainly due to the unlimited support of the country’s leadership of the eGovernment program – under the supervision and directions of Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa, Deputy Prime Minister Chairman of the Supreme Committee for Information and Communication Technology,” Mohamed Ali Al-Qaed, said.
“Such awards boost confidence in the performance of the public entities and enhances the quality of services that are provided in line with Bahrain Economic Vision 2030,” he said.
He stressed that Bahrain’s experience in hosting the United Nations Public Service Forum and Awards in 2013 had strengthened the Kingdom’s presence particularly that it was the fourth country and the first in the Middle East to hold and organize this forum outside the United Nations headquarters in New York, since its establishment 10 years back. Organizing this event last year raised our ambitions and placed us with the responsibility to continue to lead.
Only three Western-Asian countries have won the UN Public Service Award, namely: the Kingdom of Bahrain, Sultanate of Oman, and Turkey.
Dr. Al-Mehza’ has expressed her delight about this global achievement which the Ministry of Health and Bahrain have strived to achieve in order to develop the provision of public services; particularly primary healthcare for citizens and residents. As an outcome, the Kingdom has gained international recognition from the United Nations and this reflects its given attention to the public services. Reaching such international level also owns to the continuous support of Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa, Deputy Prime Minister Chairman of the Supreme Committee for Information and Communication Technology – to develop the health services in the Kingdom including I-SEHA.
The ministry’s Training and Planning Assistant Undersecretary added that the I-SEHA team has exerted huge efforts throughout the phases of its development until reaching the final stages of and meet the requirements of the awards in line with the terms and conditions set by the UNPSA.
Al-Qaed participated in the Ministerial Roundtable meeting at the conclusion ceremony along with a group of experts and 14 ministers representing many countries such as Morocco, Korea, Cameron, Bangladesh, Ireland, Uganda, Somalia, and Suez Land. Attendance discussed the results of Forum and future glance; in the presence of Hongbo.
During the meeting, Al-Qaed stressed the importance of having a clear strategy and a roadmap for development, diversification of communication channels to engage the public in the decision and policy making. He also emphasized the role of leadership and support of ensuring successful government performance which led to many flourishing projects such as the National Contact Center.
He highlighted the importance of governance and Bahrain’s experience in establishing the IT Governance Committee which supervises the work plans and IT projects and policies in government entities.
He continued by highlighting the role of women in society and that the eGovernment will work with Supreme Council for Women to increase the number of eServices that tailor to this gender. During the meeting, he hailed the key role played by women who occupied senior, leadership positions in various parts of the public sector – particularly the communication field due to the support of the supreme council and the electronic systems offered to them to report complaints and prejudice; in addition to enabling them through certain training courses as well as Qudurat eTraining programs.
This year’s UNPSA witnessed tough competition between 750 projects from 85 countries to win 19 awards. Bahrain won 2 awards – the National Contact Centre, which is a model for successful partnership between public and private sectors which aims to create national economy that is capable of developing and generating income as well as creating more job opportunities for Bahrainis to attract foreign investors to the Kingdom. The center is a channel that allows the government of Bahrain to enhance the services offered to citizens, residents, visitors, and businesses through fast delivery of government services. The NCC offers its integrated services – for both public and private sector, locally and regionally – via an easy-to-remember number within 24/7.