MANAMA: A major conference on sustainable development in Arab region opens in Manama on Tuesday under the patronage of His Royal Highness the Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa.
In attendance will be the Arab ministers responsible for environment, social development and finance, among others, to deliberate on the sustainable development across the Arab region.
The forum on May 5 – 7 will be the second session of the Arab High Level Forum on Sustainable Development and will offer the ministers and delegates an opportunity to set their priorities for regional and international cooperation on an integrated approach on sustainable development across the Arab region.
Its results will provide an essential input to the UN’s Summit in September, which will set the development goals agenda for years to come.
A key item on the Forum agenda will be to identify major economic, environmental and social challenges especially in light of the continuing conflicts in the Arab region with the aim of enhancing the right to development and human dignity.
The most prominent event at the forum will be the launch of the Millennium Development Goals Bahrain 2015, which includes assessment of achievement level of each of the Millennium Development Goals.
It will also highlight the progress made in achieving these goals that have been drawn in the UN Development Declaration for the year 2000 pertaining to the eradication of extreme poverty, generalization of primary education, promoting equality and diseases fighting while ensuring a sustainable environment in the framework of a global partnership for development.
Recognising the essential importance of innovative financing to the promotion of new set of sustainable development goals, ministers will also consider the role of institutions and the private sector in enhancing the governance process and tools in terms of reorienting markets towards sustainable development.
Monitoring the sustainable development progress in the Arab region will also be key element.
The Forum participants will discuss the collaboration and partnership between the governments, regional organizations, and the United Nations agencies as well as ways of implementing sustainable development goals.
The meeting is a unique opportunity for Arab environment, financial and social ministers to bridge information and policy gaps on critical sustainable development related issues.
The discussions on these agenda items will be enhanced by keynote statements from a number of internationally recognized officials, namely, Faeqa bint Said Al Saleh, Minister of Social Development, Rima Khalaf, Under Secretary General and Executive Secretary of ESCWA, Mohammed Bin Ibrahim Al Tuwaijri, Assistant Secretary General of Economic Affairs, League of Arab States, Ibrahim Thiaw, UN Assistant-Secretary General and UNEP Deputy Executive Director, and Sima Bahous, Assistant Secretary General and Chair of the Regional United Nations Development Group for Arab States.
About 400 delegates are expected to participate at the Arab High level Forum on Sustainable Development, including 13 ministers from the Arab countries.
Discussions will focus on the themes of “From the Millennium Development Goals to the Sustainable Development goals: Voices from the Arab region”, “Means of implementing development goals: Financing for sustainable development in the Arab region”, “Means of implementation: Trade for sustainable development in the Arab region”, “Means of implementation: Technology for sustainable development in the Arab region”, “Institutional framework for sustainable development in the Arab region” and “Monitoring of sustainable development progress in the Arab region.”