Commissioned by His Majesty the King.. The Minister of Social Development delivers the Kingdom of Bahrain's speech at the meetings of the Economic and Commercial Cooperation Committee "COMCEC" in Turk

28-11-2022

Commissioned by His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, King of Kingdom of Bahrain, His Excellency the Minister of Social Development, Mr. Osama bin Ahmed Khalaf Al-Asfoor, participated in the work of the thirty-eighth session of the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (COMCEC), held in Turkey under the chairmanship of His Excellency President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of the Republic of Turkey, which lasted for 4 days between 26-29 November. On this occasion, the Minister of Social Development delivered the speech of the Kingdom of Bahrain, in which he conveyed the greetings of His Majesty the King, may God protect him, to President Erdogan, Chairman of the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (COMCEC), and His Majesty's wishes for success for this meeting, while expressing his deep thanks and appreciation to the Republic of Turkey for the warm reception and good organization of this event. Al-Asfoor stressed the importance of the meeting's topics, foremost of which is the provision of effective social assistance and social and economic empowerment in light of the global spread of the Corona Virus (Covid-19) pandemic, and the alleviation of poverty. And to enhance the efficiency of the health sector in providing free treatment services to citizens and residents without discrimination. He also referred to the several measures that have been taken to support citizens with electricity and water bills, raise the volume of monthly amounts allocated to sponsor orphans and widows by 20%, fulfill the payment of dues of beneficiaries with limited income on the date of disbursement, and the government guarantees the payment of salaries of insured citizens in the most affected facilities in the private sector, in addition to the digital transformation by a large percentage to ensure the speed and efficiency of the delivery of these initiatives. The Minister of Social Development also reviewed the initiatives launched by the Government of the Kingdom of Bahrain, headed by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Prime Minister,which included a series of well-studied policies and programs directed at the lowest-income groups most in need of government support, within the integrated social protection system, the latest of which was raising the minimum level of social assistance and financial support, in addition to projects to support and develop productive families in an effort to bring about a quantitative and qualitative change in the economic and living conditions of this group of citizens, stressing in this context that the Kingdom of Bahrain has managed to overcome obstacles. And the negative effects of the pandemic, recovery and return to normal work life, wishing this session to come up with the best recommendations and the right decisions, and to reach a fruitful mechanism regarding enhancing cooperation between the participating countries through the exchange of experiences in a way that contributes to the achievement of good and societal security for Islamic countries and their peoples. The work of the 38th session of the COMCEC concluded with a set of important recommendations, the most prominent of which is defining integrated social protection as a major priority in public policy, launching employee exchange and training programs among member states, enhancing coordination between the various agencies specialized in managing social assistance programs in a cooperative governance structure, while identifying all available data that must be linked to social programs such as civil records, tax records, address records, birth certificates and income status. In addition to creating and adopting effective and flexible integrated systems characterized by merging beneficiaries into a single data platform to provide social assistance to respond to sudden shocks and protect the most vulnerable segments of society, in preparation for the occurrence of any natural disasters at a higher rate in member states in particular and throughout the world in general, especially with the observed changes in climate and global warming, which have reached alarming levels. It is noteworthy that the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (COMCEC) was established at the Third Islamic Summit Conference held in Makkah Al-Mukarramah in 1981 with the aim of discussing issues, addressing common developmental problems facing the Islamic Ummah and discussing ways to solve them. The "COMCEC" includes 57 member states, in addition to five observer states representing four continents. Noting that the Committee has held 37 sessions so far.