ECOSOC regional meeting in Bahrain stresses government, civil society & private sector partnership

Over the course of the two days, the participants discussed how the challenges related to population growth and urban development are influencing the achievement of the internationally agreed goals and commitments related to sustainable development.

They also learned about measures taken to overcome these challenges. The report of the meeting, including concrete policy recommendations, will be presented to the plenary session of the Economic and Social Council in New York next July.

New York based Permanent Representatives of Member Countries of ECOSOC, representatives of Government of Western Asia countries and delegates of civil Society, academia and private sector participated ion the meeting.

Mr. Leo Merores, President of ECOSOC said that over half of the population in the Arab world is living in urban areas. "The region faces a number of challenges in terms of sustainable urbanization, including those we have focused on: the implications of population growth, an increasingly large number of whom are youth; water scarcity, and climate change.

"To address them, we have examined some of the issues related to infrastructure, service provision and access, financing and technology transfer", Mr. Leo Merores said during the closing session he co-chaired with Bahrain Foreign Minister Khaled Ben Ahmed Al Khalifa.

"We were also pleased to showcase some innovations from the region in the field of green architecture and urban planning," he added.

The meeting acknowledged the urgent need to address unsustainable patterns of consumption, especially in regard to water.

Efforts must be increased to encourage appropriate and affordable technology to mitigate and adapt to climate change. "It was also recommended that the Islamic banking industry should offer "green credit" to promote sustainable urbanization,"
Mr. Merores added.

ECOSOC president said that in regard to environmentally sound architecture, it was agreed that it must be seen in the larger context of urban planning, and more attention must be directed toward serving the poor. Panelists noted a need to both scale up and "scale out" the quantity and types of green solutions.

It was reiterated that a full and fair partnership between government, civil society and the private sector is vital to ensuring sustainable development. Local communities must be involved throughout the entire process and planning and managing
urbanization.

Ambassador Merores announced that Bahrain's meeting emphasized that each stakeholder group present today - whether government, civil society, academia or private sector - "has a role to play in safeguarding the future of the citizens of the region."

Bahrain's Foreign Minister said his country has made much progress in many aspects of sustainable urbanization, as confirmed by several indicators measured by the United Nations, "as well as by last year's UN Habitat Award to His Highness our Prime Minister for promoting socially inclusive housing. Indeed, this award is a testament to His Majesty's pioneering efforts to lay the foundations of a stronger democracy, a dynamic economy and a modern infrastructure."

He said. "Although we have discussed a lot of good practices, we cannot rest on our laurels. We have agreed that we must take action to address not only the challenges of today, but -- more importantly -- to plan for tomorrow." "For this, we stressed the need to design strategies that integrate policies in the economic, social and environmental fields in a coherent and sustainable manner, both at the national level and regional levels," he added.

Each representative of each stakeholder group present today - whether government, civil society, academia or private sector - has a role to play in safeguarding the future of the citizens of the region," the minister said, noting that Bahrain may be a small country but it has an increasingly "important role in the region and in the international community, as shown by its recent election by widespread support to the Human Rights Council of the United Nations". Bahrain is also strongly committed to the work of the Economic and Social Council, and we would like to remain engaged. For this reason, the country will seek to become a member of ECOSOC again. This meeting is a good example of how our country can serve as a bridge between the region and the international community by bringing the Western Asia perspective to the larger global debate".

Bahrain was the first country in Western Asia to volunteer to engage - through this event - all members of the region in the ECOSOC Annual Ministerial Review process.

This will ensure that the regional perspective and challenges will be reflected in the Council's deliberations in July, when the report from this meeting will be presented to ECOSOC in New York," the minister concluded.