August 2021 9 www.bahrainthismonth.com interview Your Excellency, you have been the Minister of Youth and Sports Affairs since December 2018. What has been the most notable achievement of the Ministry in that time? Upon joining the team at the Ministry back in December 2018, we were honoured by a personal visit at the Ministry by His Highness Sheikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, His Majesty’s Representative for Humanitarian Work and Youth Affairs. During this visit, he met with all the senior team members and set for the Ministry an incredibly aspirational plan of action for the upcoming 208 weeks (the four-year mandate). The plan was referred to as Estijabah - the National Plan to Reform the Youth and Sports Sector. What were the key pillars of the Estijabah programme? There were five key pillars with regards to the Estijabah programme. Firstly, operationally separating the Youth and Sports sectors to build depth and develop expertise in each separately. This allowed us to professionalise sports and increase its penetration into our daily lives, simultaneously increasing our institutional interaction and efforts in empowering the youth. Next, we upgraded our institutional operations and tracking processes to create an A Team with institutional knowledge and processes as opposed to individual achievers – while removing legacy hurdles which might disrupt the progress. Further, we developed transparent systems to allow high performers to be recognised and promoted from within the sectors. In addition, we strived to create an open, competitive and just environment which promotes continuous lifelong innovation and learning. Finally, as part of the programme, we actively collaborate and communicate with active members within our society. How was the Estijabah programme implemented and what were its main achievements? To do this, we literally had to work with the team in Government to restructure the whole Ministry through the issuance of the Royal Decree at the beginning of 2019. I am very pleased with just how far we’ve come in record time; we really did hit the ground running. The greatest honour for me personally and for my colleagues, was when His Highness Sheikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa presented the team – the Supreme Council for Youth and Sports, the Ministry of Youth and Sports Affairs and the Olympic Committee - to His Majesty the King reporting ‘Mission Completed’ - the completion of Estijabah’s 208-week programme in record time with plenty to spare. The landmark achievements for sports in Bahrain included: - The completion of the Framework to create the Sports Authority; - Settlement of past dues for athletes; - Launch of the Sports Summit; - Professionalisation of Sports; - Adoption of Sports Contracts; - Opening club membership to all; - Allowing sport clubs to commercialise their brands; - Reinforcing the independence of sports associations to create depth of expertise; - Rebranding and refocusing the Bahrain Olympic Committee under the Team Bahrain brand and - Finalising the plans for the new Sports City in Sakhir. The institutional framework has borne fruit faster than we have expected. The sports achievements over the past two years are proof of the success of the programme which His Highness guided and designed – starting from bringing home the Gulf Cup, to sending the largest historical athletic delegation to the Olympic Games, to having Bahraini athletes reach world recognition including playing in the Premier League. That is quite the feat. What were the notable achievements for the Youth Sector as part of the Estijabah programme? There were several notable achievements for the Youth Sector as part of the programme. These included: - Refocusing Youth Centre roles to focus on discovering, mentoring, presenting and highlighting youth talents; - Licensing youth centers; - Launch of the Youth Summits; - Creating the new youth centres’ management and grant systems; - Reducing the age of establishment of companies to 18 years; - Working with the Bahrain Quality Authority to represent and voice youth interests in schools and schooling; - Launching the ‘Furas’ programme – which is an internship platform with the Ministry of Labour and Social Development and Tamkeen; - Creation of the ‘Hope Fund’ by order of His Majesty the King to invest in youth; - Supporting and coordinating with the SME Board through our new membership; - Launching new versions of the ‘King Hamad Award for Empowering Youth to Achieve the
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