Bahrain COVID-19 frontliners and charity work volunteers honoured at virtual ceremony

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Medical frontliners in the fight against the coronavirus (COVID-19) and volunteers for humanitarian and charity work were honoured yesterday at the 11th HH Shaikh Isa bin Ali Award for Voluntary Work.

The virtual award-distribution ceremony was held under the patronage and in the presence of the Cabinet Affairs Ministry’s Undersecretary and Honorary President of the Good Word Society, His Highness Shaikh Isa bin Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa.

Organised by the Good Word Society in cooperation with the Arab Voluntary Union, the event was attended by ministers, officials and the Board of Directors Chairman of the Good Word Society and Arab Union for Voluntary Work President, Hassan Bu Hazza, in addition to the honourees, including pioneers of voluntary work in the kingdom.

For the second year in a row, the award was dedicated to the frontliners in recognition of their tremendous efforts and contributions to mitigate the pandemic’s impacts on the kingdom and the citizens.

Addressing the ceremony, HH Shaikh Isa bin Ali congratulated the honourees, hailing them as “role models” to be emulated at the international level. The honourees were the National Medical Taskforce for Combating Coronavirus (COVID-19), Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Finance and National Economy, Ministry of Labour and Social Development, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Ministry of Information Affairs, Bahrain Defence Force, Ministry of Youth and Sports Affairs, Supreme Council for Women, Information and e-Government Authority, Labour Fund Authority (Tamkeen), Royal Humanitarian Foundation (RHF) and General Directorate of Civil Defence.

Other COVID-19 frontliners honoured for their dedicated work and sacrifices included the Royal Medical Services Commander at the Military Hospital, Professor Shaikh Khalid bin Ali Al Khalifa, CEO of the Government Hospitals and National Medical Taskforce member, Dr Ahmed Mohammed Al Ansari, Health Ministry’s Undersecretary and National Medical Taskforce member, Dr Waleed Khalifa Al Manae, Industry, Commerce and Tourism Ministry’s Undersecretary for Control and Resources, Mohammed Abdulaziz Al-Ashraf.

Infectious Diseases Consultant and Microbiologist at the BDF Hospital and National Medical Taskforce member, Lieutenant-Colonel Dr Manaf Al Qahtani, Infectious Diseases Consultant at the Salmaniya Medical Complex and National Medical Taskforce member, Dr Jameela Al Salman, Director of Inspection and Occupational Safety at the Ministry of Labour and Social Development, Mustafa Aqeel Abdulla Al-Shaikh, and the Director of the Family and Child Development Directorate at the Ministry of Labour and Social Development, Aisha Mohammed Al Zayed.

The HH Shaikh Isa bin Ali Award for Voluntary Work was conferred on Al Mabarrah Al Khalifia Foundation, in recognition of its community role, humanitarian and charitable efforts, and its excellence in the field of voluntary work through many initiatives and programmes in various regions of the kingdom, in addition to its efforts in the field of education and youth empowerment.

The Bahrain Women Development Society, Al Kawthar Society for Social Welfare and the Bahraini Association for Intellectual Disability and Autism also won the award in the “Best Institutional Voluntary Performance” category for the sustainable development programmes they are implementing. The award is granted in September of each year, in conjunction with the Arab Volunteer Day celebrations.