Cabinet nod for gender balance report

Manama : The Cabinet chaired by His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa yesterday approved the preparation of periodic reports that measure gender balance in the public sector institutions. 

The measure follows a recommendation put forward by a committee chaired by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister.

The reports will be prepared and issued by the Supreme Council for Women (SCW), in collaboration with the competent authorities. 

The session also adopted the establishment of a National Observatory for Gender Balance.

The Information and e-Government Authority will be responsible for the observatory, which will serve as a reference regarding the follow-up on measuring the Kingdom’s competitiveness in the field of women at the regional and international levels. 

The cabinet valued highly the major role played by the SCW, presided over by Her Royal Highness Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa, Wife of HM the King, in optimising Bahraini women’s achievements, empowering women and developing national plans to advance them.

The cabinet session was attended by HRH Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa.

Exhibitions

HRH Prime Minister has given directives to attract more special events to enhance Bahrain’s status in the exhibitions and conferences industry and tourism, given their investment importance, and its bearing on economy.

Chairing the regular weekly Cabinet session, HRH Premier stressed the importance of the Gulf Property Show 2018, opened by him recently. He said that the show is among the events adopted by the private sector, and contributes to highlighting the incentives provided by the government to encourage investment in the real estate sector. 

HRH the Prime Minister urged all ministries and government departments, especially service ministries, to constructively cooperate with the Press, and gave directives to facilitate newspapers’ access to information to consolidate their enlightening role and noble mission as a mirror that reflects social issues and affairs.

In this context, HRH Premier saluted the national Press for its patriotic contributions, and its affiliates’ high professionalism and creative involvement in national affairs. abinet decisions

Combatting human trafficking

The session approved the establishment of a regional training and capacity-building centre on combating trafficking in persons in cooperation with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

The cabinet also endorsed a proposal to set up a fund to support the victims of trafficking in persons among expatriate worker. The fund will provide all kinds of assistance, including humanitarian and financial support, to victims of human trafficking through various programmes adopted according to specific regulations.

The two moves aim to strengthen Bahrain’s status and distinguished record in the fight against trafficking in persons, based on its legislative system which preserves the human rights and dignity of persons and protects them from all forms of exploitation or trafficking, and are in line with Bahrain’s initiatives in this regard, which have been acclaimed regionally and globally.

They also reflect the government’s keenness to adopt more measures that improve the humanitarian situation of expatriate workers and ensure the benefit of its accumulated experience in this field, a memorandum by the Labour and Social Development Minister and Board of Directors of the Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) said. The session discussed a number of initiatives aimed at ensuring the sustainability of the provision of pension benefits and prolonging the longevity of retirement fund.

The session decided to refer a memorandum in this regard to the Legislation and Legal Opinion Commission to draft it in the appropriate legal formula ahead of referring it to the Legislature.