SCW holds open meeting

Manama, Jan. 27 (BNA): The Secretariat-General of the Supreme Council for Women (SCW) organised an open meeting at the Abdulla Baqer Majlis in Riffa, entitled "National Efforts that Support Bahraini Women’s Advancement". Moderated by the SCW’s Media Director, Mohammed Al-Hammadi, the meeting was attended by academics, heads of NGOs and those concerned with women’s issues. The meeting featured a presentation highlighting the SCW’s establishment, goals, services and programmes, as well as its role in supporting and empowering Bahraini women at all levels, and the National Plan for the Advancement of Bahraini Women. It also shed light on the SCW’s terms of reference and cooperation and coordination mechanisms with the Legislative, Judicial and Executive branches and civil society organisations, in addition to the main achievements regarding legislation, laws and ministerial edicts. The open meeting also tackled the SCW’s efforts to consolidate Bahraini women’s achievements regarding social allowance like men, housing services and decent employment opportunities. The SCW’s efforts to promote the principle of equal opportunities across government departments and the private sector to ensure Bahraini women’s competitiveness and the continuity of their life-long learning, and to increase the opportunities for women to improve the quality of their life within supportive legislation and policies, and complementarity with partners and allies in institutional work, were also highlighted. The attendees were also informed about the SCW’s Women Support Centre, and its role in solving problems facing Bahraini women, as well as the main programmes and projects to empower women economically, and the awards and initiatives that have contributed to enhancing the status of Bahraini women. In this regard, the meeting reviewed the SCW’s programmes aimed at empowering Bahraini women economically through providing them with the necessary skills and techniques in order to be able to start their businesses, run small projects or enter the entrepreneurship field in a number of professions. The attendees were also briefed about several support programmes provided by the SCW within the framework of its cooperation with many parties, including the Labour Fund (Tamkeen) and the Ebdaa Bank for Microfinance.