MANAMA: Bahrain is working steadily to promote the values of peaceful coexistence, the protection of individual rights, and efforts to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, an international forum heard on Tuesday. Noor Al-Khulaif, Bahrain’s minister of sustainable development, told the UN’s High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development that her country is committed to fast-tracking efforts to achieve the SDGs, under the leadership of King Hamad and Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, the Bahrain News Agency reported. She also expressed pride in Bahrain’s success in becoming a global leader in efforts to tackle the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic without affecting the pace of its sustainable development agenda, through the implementation of initiatives that played a vital role in addressing the global health crisis. The launch of Bahrain’s Economic Recovery Plan in October 2021, the country’s commitment to reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2060, the merging of sustainability goals with the government’s program for 2023 to 2026, digital transformation efforts, and the establishment of the Ministry of Sustainable Development in 2022 have all had a great effect on the successful development of a sustainable plan for economic recovery, added Al-Khulaif. She also reiterated Bahrain’s support for international cooperation and partnerships that can help to more quickly achieve the SDGs, and the potential benefits that international forums can provide as platforms for dialogue and consultation to help build global partnerships and develop important, innovative solutions that are available and accessible to all. The 2023 High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, the theme of which us “Accelerate recovery from COVID-19 and fully implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at all levels,” began on July 10 and concludes on July 19.