Women Empowerment awards to be announced on Wednesday

Manama : The winners of Her Royal Highness Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al-Khalifa Award for Bahraini Women Empowerment will be announced on Wednesday. 

A ceremony will be held under the auspices of Her Royal Highness Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al-Khalifa, Wife of His Majesty the King and Supreme Council for Women (SCW) to honour the 2017 winners. 

The 5th edition will acknowledge the landmark strides achieved by Bahraini women in the public and private sectors and growing participation in the national development endeavour. Bahrain embarked on a wide-ranging strategy to empower women and facilitate their economic integration to play their role in the development march on the basis of equal opportunities and bridge gender gaps. 

Launched in 2006, HRH Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al-Khalifa Award for Bahraini Women Empowerment has had a positive impact on institutions in the Kingdom of Bahrain. According to latest statistics, the rate of women’s participation in public sector enterprises increased by 11 per cent in ten years to top 49pc in 2016, up from 38pc in 2006. 

As for the private sector, the rate of women’s participation increased by 9pc to top 33pc up from 24pc of the overall workforce. 

The rate of women’s participation in the high managerial positions rose to 45pc, compared with 59pc for medium managerial positions. The number of sponsors of the award soared by 123pc to top 77 in 2016, up from 30 in 2006, which reflects the impact of the prize in promoting corporate culture to integrate women’s needs and foster gender equal opportunities.

The commitment to set up equal opportunities committees also soared from 38pc in 2011 to 95pc last year. The companies which took part in the contest or won the award achieved strides in incorporating the principles of equal opportunities and the integration of women’s needs in their strategies.