MANAMA, 6 March 2007 — Bahrain’s Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman Al-Khalifa is to receive the UN Habitat award, according to an announcement yesterday. Officials from the prime minister’s office and the United Nations Human Settlements Program (UNHABITAT) said in a joint press conference that the 2006 award for distinguished achievement in housing and development had been conferred on Sheikh Khalifa.
The award, to be presented later this year, is the highest UN award for contributions to development. The Executive Director of UNHABITAT Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka said in a message delivered by a visiting delegation that the award was for the prime minister’s efforts to fight poverty, social and infrastructural development strategies while maintaining the country’s heritage.
Other recipients of the award include Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej, former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and King Carl Gustaf XVI of Sweden.
In a statement, Sheikh Khalifa expressed thanks and appreciation to all those who had contributed to the achievements.
Sheikh Khalifa said the award was not a personal one but one for all Bahrainis citing development achievements from the era of the late Emir Sheikh Isa bin Salman Al-Khalifa to the present era of King Hamad.
He expressed thanks and appreciation to all those who had contributed in making these achievements whether occupying high posts or small, stressing that everybody was a great support to him in carrying out the government’s development programmes.
Late last month Bahrain pledged a total of $1 million (BD378,000) for the agency’s activities in the Arab region, particularly in the Palestinian territories.
The UN agency, established in 1978 with its headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, aims to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities with the goal of providing adequate shelter for all.
