Duchess hails progress of Bahraini women

Manama : Taking a walk through the spectacular history of Bahrain, the Duchess of Cornwall yesterday viewed the tremendous progress achieved by the Bahraini women during a reception held in her honour by Wife of His Majesty the King and Supreme Council for Women Chairwoman, HRH Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa yesterday. 

Camilla was presented with a visual presentation detailing Bahraini women’s full and equal participation in the national development. 

The presentation covered various aspects of women empowerment in the Kingdom including the entry of women into the field of banking in the late fifties. Participation in the military sphere as well as various sporting achievements were also highlighted in the  presentation enjoyed by the Duchess. 

The event was held on the occasion of the visit of Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall to Bahrain, who are currently on a tour of the Gulf on behalf of the British government. Senior officials and members of the Supreme Council for Women were also present at the reception held at the headquarters of the
Supreme Council for Women. 

On the occasion, Princess Sabeeka praised the historical ties binding Bahrain and the United Kingdom and stressed the importance of maintaining its depth especially to  benefit the progress of women empowerment in the Kingdom. According to statistics, participation of women in Bahrain’s public sector is now an impressive 53 per cent. While this stands at 45pc, when it comes to their presence in the senior management roles. In the private sector jobs, the participation is 33pc. 

The Duchess of Cornwall was also introduced to a group of women entrepreneurs from different business sectors. She met a number of graduate students from the Women Incubator Centre “Riyadat” and was briefed on success stories both in the national and international levels. 

On a different occasion, the Duchess visited St Christopher’s School and attended a reception there which featured foods prepared by the students. The Duchess also listened to a recitation of Arabic poetry by young non-native Arabic speakers.