First of its kind, this global award comes as an expression of the firm faith of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, King of Bahrain, in young people’s potential to lead their communities, countries and the world towards a better shared future of peace and prosperity for all people on a healthy and sustainable planet, as envisioned by the world’s most ambitious plan to transform our world – The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

The award recognizes young people’s endeavour to be effective and productive citizens, contributing to the welfare of their communities and environment, as well as institutions that improve the enabling environment and infrastructure for youth to make an impact.

The kingdom of Bahrain believes that investing in the capabilities, energies and ingenuity of young people brings about the best yields for sustainable development and future well-being of any nation.

That is why, at the national level, the kingdom prioritizes pioneering initiatives that help youth enhance their capabilities—through training, skill-building, and experience-exchange, to expand their opportunities to choose a future that they desire and contribute to the welfare of their community.

Young people make up one-third of the world's population. They are an extraordinary force for the present and the future. They have unprecedented access to education, knowledge and scientific advancements and they are more connected through information and communication technologies than ever before.

The Kingdom of Bahrain offers a set of initiatives in the field of youth empowerment and skills development stemming from the Kingdom’s great faith in youth as the engine of developmental processes and the purpose of development. We continue to invest in young people as they are the world’s best chance to delivering on vision of Agenda 2030 and fulfilling the promise of the SDGs to leave no one behind, in a world that is more equitable and freer of want.

The award, led by the Ministry of Youth and Sports Affairs and implemented in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme, was first launched during the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Youth Forum, in January 2017 and the awarding ceremony took place in the Kingdom of Bahrain, in January 2018.

As of the 2018 Award Cycle, the King Hamad Award for Youth Empowerment to achieve the SDGs (KHA) includes two main categories; one for youth action, granting 5 Awards, and a second for youth enablers granting 3 Awards.

In 2020, the COVID-19 outbreak has wreaked havoc across the globe, deeply affecting people’s health, livelihoods, and prospects for the future, adversely affecting and—in some cases even reversing – gains made in the pursuit of the SDGs. Under its two categories, this year’s edition of the Award will take into consideration those youth-led and youth-enabling actions that help mitigate directly or indirectly the immediate, medium- and long-term impacts of COVID-19.

The focus will go not only on actions that help put the pursuit of the SDGs back on track, but also those that assist people and communities to build forward greener, smarter, and more inclusive, as communities and countries emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Please refer to the Application Form for more details.