MoFA undersecretary reviews cooperation with UN senior official

Manama, Apr. 30 (BNA): Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA)'s Undersecretary for International Affairs and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Bahrain Centre for Strategic, International and Energy Studies (Derasat), Dr. Shaikh Abdullah bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, has met the Senior Political Affairs Officer of the Gulf Team, Middle East Division, Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations at the United Nations Secretariat, Victor Poliakov. This came during the UN official's visit to the Kingdom of Bahrain, in the presence of the United Nations Resident Coordinator of the United Nations Development Programme to Kingdom of Bahrain, Amin Al Sharqawi. Dr. Shaikh Abdullah hailed the evolving partnership between the Kingdom of Bahrain and the United Nations in various fields, praising the UN's solid efforts in peacekeeping operations and its effective role in dealing with regional and international crises. He also reviewed means of cooperation between the two sides, which culminated in the signing of the Strategic Partnership Framework on October 24, 2017. He highlighted a number of practical measures taken by the Kingdom to strengthen partnership with the United Nations, including: the establishment of the "National Committee to Follow up the Kingdom's commitment to all UN Security Council Resolutions" and a specialized workshop recently organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on exploring new opportunities to consolidate foundations of historical and positive relations with the international organization. Dr. Shaikh Abdullah stressed that the foreign policy of the Kingdom of Bahrain, under the wise leadership of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, has a longstanding cooperation with the United Nations and its specialized bodies, agencies and programs and is interested in building strong and constructive relations with the international organization, towards a stable and prosperous future. The undersecretary affirmed that the Kingdom is supportive of the significant role played by the United Nations in the protection of international peace and security, especially that the Middle East faces escalating security challenges and complex conflicts, stressing the importance of eliminating any practices and abuses by irresponsible parties attempting to destabilize the region and intervening in the affairs of other states and sponsoring terrorism. He also commended the UN Secretary-General’s Action for Peacekeeping (A4P) initiative, which aims to enhance collective cooperation with peacekeeping operations and the mutual commitment to achieve excellence in the performance of these tasks. He noted the Kingdom of Bahrain has a solid record and a distinguished presence in achieving the purposes of the Charter of the United Nations, foremost of which is the maintenance of international peace and security, adding that the Kingdom is at the forefront in combatting terrorism, its ideology and sources of funding. The undersecretary expressed his appreciation for the contributions and results of the United Nations peacekeeping operations in helping many countries overcome risks and crises in order to ensure stability, adding that this requires concerted efforts of the international community. He mentioned that "our steady choice is a just peace and constructive cooperation based on sound foundations of mutual respect and non-interference in the internal affairs of states in a stable, prosperous and secure environment." For his part, Poliakov commended the relentless efforts made by the Kingdom in maintaining regional peace and stability, and its efforts in constructing a distinguished partnership with the UN, wishing the Kingdom further progress and prosperity.