Kingdom of Bahrain Portal for Sustainable Development Goals

Goal One: End poverty in all its forms everywhere

Poverty is more than the lack of income and resources to ensure a sustainable livelihood. Its manifestations include hunger and malnutrition, limited access to education and other basic services, social discrimination and exclusion as well as the lack of participation in decision-making. Economic growth must be inclusive to provide sustainable jobs and promote equality.

Overview of some indicators

Proportion of population living below the national poverty line

Proportion of the population living in households with access to basic services

100%

Proportion of total government spending on essential services (education, health and social protection)

29.1%

Indicators

Target 1.1: By 2030, eradicate extreme poverty for all people everywhere, currently measured as people living on less than $1.25 a day
- Indicator 1.1.1: Proportion of population below the international poverty line disaggregated by sex, age group, employment status, and geographical location (urban/rural) (Excel, 0.01MB, 1 Sheet)
Target 1.2: By 2030, reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions
- Indicator 1.2.1: Proportion of population living below the national poverty line, disaggregated by sex and age group (Excel, 0.01MB, 1 Sheet)
- Indicator 1.2.2: Proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions
Target 1.3: Implement nationally appropriate social protection systems and measures for all, including floors, and by 2030 achieve substantial coverage of the poor and the vulnerable
- Indicator 1.3.1: Proportion of population covered by social protection floors/systems, by sex, distinguishing children, unemployed persons, older persons, persons with disabilities, pregnant women, newborns, work-injury victims and the poor and the vulnerable (Excel, 0.02MB, 1 Sheet)
Target 1.4: By 2030, ensure that all men and women, in particular the poor and the vulnerable, have equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to basic services, ownership and control over land and other forms of property, inheritance, natural resources, appropriate new technology and financial services, including microfinance
- Indicator 1.4.1: Proportion of the population living in households with access to basic services. (Excel, 0.02MB, 1 Sheet)
- Indicator 1.4.2: Proportion of people with secure tenure rights to land (out of total adult population), with legally recognized documentation and who perceive their rights to land as secure, by sex and by type of tenure
Target 1.5: By 2030, build the resilience of the poor and those in vulnerable situations and reduce their exposure and vulnerability to climate-related extreme events and other economic, social and environmental shocks and disasters
- Indicator 1.5.1: Number of deaths, missing and persons affected by disaster per 100,000 people (Excel, 0.01MB, 1 Sheet)
- Indicator 1.5.2: Direct disaster economic loss in relation to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (Excel, 0.01MB, 1 Sheet)
- Indicator 1.5.3: Number of countries that adopt and implement national disaster risk reduction strategies in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 (Excel, 0.02MB, 1 Sheet)
- Indicator 1.5.4: Proportion of local governments that adopt and implement local disaster risk reduction strategies in line with national disaster risk reduction strategies (Excel, 0.02MB, 1 Sheet)
Target 1.a: Ensure significant mobilization of resources from a variety of sources, including through enhanced development cooperation, in order to provide adequate and predictable means for developing countries, in particular least developed countries, to implement programmes and policies to end poverty in all its dimensions
- Indicator 1.a.1: Proportion of domestically generated resources allocated by the government directly to poverty reduction programmes (Excel, 0.01MB, 1 Sheet)
- indicator 1.a.2 Proportion of total government spending on essential services (education, health and social protection) (Excel, 0.11MB, 1 Sheet)
Target 1.b: Create sound policy frameworks at the national, regional and international levels, based on pro-poor and gender-sensitive development strategies, to support accelerated investment in poverty eradication actions
- Indicator 1.b.1: Proportion of government recurrent and capital spending going to sectors that disproportionately benefit women, poor and vulnerable groups

Policies & initiatives support the goal

Social Assistance

The social assistance includes the financial aid provided by the Ministry of Labour and Social Development (MLSD) since 1972 to a selected range of people having difficulties in their livelihood, proved through social research. This includes widows, divorced, abandoned children, elderly, a family of an imprisoned person, incapacitated or disabled individuals, and orphans.

The Kingdom of Bahrain issued Law No. (18) of 2006 on social security that resulted in the establishment of a special fund for social security. Work is being done to invest the proceeds of the social security fund in constructing new commercial complexes that allocate their profits to the Social Security Fund to support needy families. The purpose is to raise the standard of living of citizens and to meet the needs of people in each category by contributing appropriate income, narrowing the differences between the groups of society and achieves social justice desired among all levels of society.

National Plan for the Development of society

The national plan for the development of society aims to raise the standard of living of families, and to enhance self-reliance and financial independence. The Ministry of Labour and Social Development has developed a number of projects and programmes to support the aim of the national plan. MLSD has previously used the World Bank's experiences in developing and structuring a social safety net, developing social assistance systems and implementing a programme based on two important elements: The first aims to develop standards that define the minimum living requirements in the Kingdom of Bahrain, based on the results of the survey carried out by the Information & eGovernment Authority , which was the cornerstone for the development of government policies towards targeting and developing the most vulnerable groups at the time. The second aims to consider ways to promote income-generating activities for families and to enhance living conditions in the areas where these families live.

The Ministry of Labour and Social Development has taken a number of steps to implement the national plan for developing needy families, including:

The National Project for the Development and Support of Productive Families: aims to transform needy families into productive families by employing and developing their talents as required, which provides these families with opportunities to increase their sources of income in addition to encouraging this group to produce in centers affiliated to the Ministry.

Family Bank: The Family Bank aims to provide micro-loans for low-income groups without bank guarantees, with the aim of helping them to establish income-generating projects in addition to specific financing services. The project has achieved remarkable successes in serving a large segment of needy families by lending them small sums to start implementing their projects. The Family Bank was the first specialized Islamic bank to provide various services. This project contributes to the implementation of the requirements of the National Economic Vision 2030 and its executive program, which aims to develop initiatives to facilitate leadership in establishing small and medium enterprises, and to complement the system of financing services provided by them and the parties that support small and medium enterprises in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Her Royal Highness Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa Award for the Encouragement of Productive Families: which aims to define the value and importance of productive families' work and to encourage the transformation of low-income families into productive units that play their economic role in society. In addition to preserving the Bahraini originality and heritage, as well as encouraging support for productive families' projects and contributing to marketing their products and contributing to improving the quality of family products in order to expand competition and provide global markets for them out of Her Highness' constant keenness on the continuity of the productive families' role in promoting social and economic development.

The Capital Mall for Productive Families: It is a project to support and develop productive families' projects, and to integrate them into the national economy in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Law regulating the practice of productive activities from home (Productive Home): It is one of the most important initiatives adopted by the Ministry within the standards and controls regulating household production activities. The issuance of the Prime Minister’s Law Decree No. 39 of 2010 to organize indoor works has helped launch the initiative of Productive Home Project.

“Khatwa” project for home projects: (Khatwa) for Home Projects: it is one of the projects adopted by the Ministry of Labour & Social Development that has been considered as the best and most successful government practices for the year 2014. On the international level, the project has won the Arab Gulf Program for Development (AGFUND) International prize as the best project among other 56 ones from different countries to become a pioneer in the field of supporting productive families’ projects and a role model to be imitated. The Step for Home Projects Program represents a new concept for indoor household productive work that encompasses all elements necessary for achieving the goals of economic empowerment and social stability of families, thanks to the work system’s legislations, infrastructure preparations and training, development, marketing and financing regulations.

Insurance against unemployment and the related compensations:

In enforcement of paragraph (c) of Article 5 of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Bahrain, this state: “The State guarantees the requisite social security for its citizens in old age, sickness, disability, orphanhood, widowhood or unemployment, and also provides them with social insurance and healthcare services. It strives to safeguard them against ignorance, fear and poverty.” Decree Law No. (78) of 2006 regarding insurance against unemployment has been issued. This has granted the Kingdom of Bahrain an advanced position among other developed countries in terms of social safety provided for its citizens.

• Insurance against Unemployment: It is an amount of money paid to a job seeker for the first time, or to an insured that has not completed the period defined for receiving compensation in accordance with the conditions stipulated by law in the event of any failure.
• Unemployment compensation: It is an amount entitled to the insured according to the terms specified by law and is granted by those who lose their jobs for reasons beyond their control.