BAHRAIN is on track to achieve a set of United Nations global goals by the 2030 deadline, stated a top official.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a set of 17 targets that include eradicating poverty, hunger and gender discrimination, while guaranteeing affordable and clean energy, climate action and equality education.
They were adopted by all UN member states in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030.
According to the UN Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative Stefano Pettinato, Bahrain has launched a series of landmark initiatives in support of UN efforts to promote SDGs in the world.
“The world and Bahrain itself have been destabilised by the pandemic but Bahrain is recovering quickly in 2021 in terms of economic growth which has picked up very well,” said Mr Pettinato yesterday.
“The authorities in Bahrain have had the capacity to never lockdown the economy – and the country – as most of the other countries fighting the pandemic have done.
“Bahrain has not had one day of lockdown and despite that it has taken incremental measures and understood the situation with intensive data-driven policies.
“The Traffic-Light system really allows us to constantly monitor the data through the Health Ministry and through that data take immediate measures – whether more strict or less strict.
“This is the way to go to achieve a strong recovery path.”
He was speaking during a webinar organised by the UNDP in collaboration with Bahrain University (UOB) titled ‘Beyond Covid-19? An opportunity to Build Back Better’ as part of a series.
The segment was called ‘A general assessment of Covid-19’s impact of the SDGs’, where Mr Pettinato also highlighted the impact medical waste had on the environment generated because of the fight against Covid-19, while also commending Bahrain’s investment in renewable energy.
“I’m very optimistic with regards to the energy shift in Bahrain,” he added. “Bahrain is seriously looking at sustainable energy as a future source of energy, or at least to add to the mix of energy sources in the kingdom, and this is enormously important.
“There are some areas related to the SDGs where I’m really hopeful and see really strong measures in the right direction. So hopefully, we will reach 2030 with the SDGs fully achieved and maybe even beyond that in the Kingdom of Bahrain – it will depend on Bahrain and also what happens in the world.
“In a path of recovery, I think Bahrain has very good chances in achieving the SDGs.”
Mr Pettinato also highlighted global Covid-19 figures which include almost 234 million confirmed cases and 4.8m deaths, in addition to 6.3 billion vaccine doses administered.
He added that this means at least 47 per cent received at least one dose.
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