Bahrain Hosts Study Tour on Governance Innovations for Development

Bahrain - Friday, January 30, 2015

The UN Department for Economic and Social Affairs, the UN Development Programme and the E-Government Authority of Bahrain organized a study tour to Manama on 24-29 January 2015 for 21 representatives from 19 countries from Asia, Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean, mostly including Least Developed Countries (LDCs).

Delegates attended working meetings and conducted a number of field visits that focused on governance innovations for sustainable development. In particular, they were introduced to the e-governance experience of Bahrain and enabled to engage in an interactive discussion on related good practices and lessons learned. Bilateral meetings provided them additional opportunities to deepen their exchanges and explore opportunities of future cooperation with their counterparts in Bahrain. Participating institutions from Bahrain included representatives of the E-Government Authority, the Ministry of Works, the Telecommunication Regulatory Authority, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Education. On the last day, delegates attended a special session on the UN E-Government Survey, which is conducted every two years since 2001. They were introduced to its methodology and the preparations for the 2016 edition, and were enabled to explore trends and challenges in implementing e-government for sustainable development. For more information on the Survey, please visit the following link http://unpan3.un.org/egovkb/Reports/UN-E-Government-Survey-2014.

The Study Tour featured presentations on the work of UNDP in the area of anti-corruption and integrity, focusing on its initiative in Jordan to strengthen social accountability in the health sector through the use of ICT, namely an online electronic platform called “Sharek” (i.e. “participate” in Arabic). This platform enables citizens to participate in monitoring the quality and integrity of health services provided at the local level. It is linked to the Ministry of Health and the Jordanian Anti-Corruption Commission (JACC) who will be responsible for its management and enabled to use the collected data to inform related reform actions. The initiative is implemented with the support of UNDP’s Regional Project on Anti-Corruption and Integrity in the Arab Countries (ACIAC), in cooperation with UNDP Jordan and the Global Anti-corruption Initiative (GAIN).