UNDP Bahrain Joins Hands with UNGAID Leadership, Agrees to Support Efforts that Advance MDGs through ICT

 

Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh invited the UNDP Resident Representative to join hands with UNGAID and the Bahraini e-Government Authority (eGA)

MANAMA --------- August 8, 2010 --------- During his visit to Bahrain, Chairman of the Global Alliance for ICT and Development (UN GAID), Dr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh visited the Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Mr. Sayed Agha, and his team at the UN House in Bahrain to thank them for their readiness to support initiatives that advance Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) through ICT and the achievement of Vision 2030. The two parties also discussed the outcome of the high level national seminar on the UNGAID MDGs e-center held on August 1, 2010.

Mr. Agha expressed his deep appreciation for the leadership and vision of GAID Chairman Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh in organizing a highly successful seminar and helping bring the latest technology to the benefit of the developing countries and, in particular, to the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh invited the UNDP Resident Representative to join hands with UNGAID and the Bahraini e-Government Authority (eGA) to help implement the recommendations formulated at the seminar. The Resident Representative of UNDP welcomed the fruitful and valuable recommendations of the seminar and expressed his readiness to cooperate with UNGAID and Bahrain eGA for their implementation.
The collaboration will include:

1. The creation of a country template for the MDG e-center so that it can be used by all countries according to their needs.
2. A center for capacity building for the region and Africa for training in ICT for development.
3. Alignment of the MDG e-center with the vision 2030 of Bahrain.
4. The creation of an executive training program on MDGs through ICT.
5. The establishment of an MDG e-center regional office in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
6. The establishment of a Knowledge Society Center in Bahrain.
7. Development of public-private partnerships to implement these initiatives.
In addition, there was general consensus to define specific modalities to move forward and develop an implementation plan based on collaboration between UNGAID, UNDP Bahrain, eGA, Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization (TAG-Org) and other interested entities.

 
The United Nations Global Alliance on ICT and Development (UN-GAID) was founded in response to a decision from the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) held in Tunis in 2005.

 
The UN-GAID chaired since the beginning of 2010, by Dr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, who succeeded former president, Craig Barrett, CEO and Chairman of Intel Corporation, the alliance is concerned about development and information technology. UN-GAID members include representatives of governments, the private sector, civil society and international organizations.

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