Bahrain committed to keeping gains in women’s advancement

TDT | Manama

Bahrain is determined to keep its commitment and gains in the field of wom- en’s advancement, said Supreme Council for Women (SCW) secretary-general Hala Al Ansari, describing them as a “source of pride.”

She emphasised that the Kingdom’s commitment towards women’s advancement is deeply rooted, citing Bahraini women’s early education, voting in municipal elections and economic participation in vital sectors, such as health, banks, judiciary, engineering, among others.

Al Ansari made the statements during her participation in a webinar organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, represented by the Bahrain Embassy to US, in co-operation with the Wilson Centre, marking the 25^th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China, and the adoption of the “Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action”.

This forum coincides with the Kingdom’s celebration of the Bahraini Women’s Day, which will honour women in the diplomatic field.

Al Ansari noted that women’s early active involvement in public life has resulted in a steady increase in their access to decision-making posts, as they became ministers, ambassadors and parliamentarians, heads of specialised entities, in addition to reaching the helm of the Council of Representatives through free direct elections in 2018.
Maintaining Bahrain’s achievements in women’s advancement and optimising them is a challenge, Al Ansari said.

But despite the unprecedented challenges resulting from the coronavirus pandemic, she stressed, Bahrain is following up on the changes and emerging opportunities in order to be able to adapt to the new situation, speed up the recovery process and carry on its national development process.

Bahrain realised early on, and through the National Plan for the Advancement of Bahraini Women which was first devised about 20 years ago, that national development would not be possible unless it was based on the principles of equal participation of women and men in public life, and the integration women’s needs in the national development programmes.

During the webinar, Al Ansari stressed Bahrain’s commitment to the “Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action” as a general framework for women’s advancement.

She noted that 25 years into its inception, the Declaration remains a major reference and a source of guidance and inspiration.

Al Ansari pointed out that Bahrain believes that in order to better benefit from the Declaration that encourages and supports sustained development of women and girls all over the world, there is a need to develop flexible evaluation and followup procedures.

And that takes into account the risk elements and the exceptional circumstances, as well as to develop the methodology of preparing periodic report to encourage and support knowledge management and transfer, through shedding light on the best practices and the success stories.