Princess Sabeeka's Global Award officially launched at UN

New York, Mar. 13 (BNA): Her Royal Highness Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa’s Global Award for Women Empowerment was officially launched today at the UN headquarters here after the outstanding success of the local edition for the past 10 years. Foreign Affairs Minister, Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa delivered the Kingdom’s speech on behalf of Her Royal Highness Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa, Wife of His Majesty the King and President of the Supreme Council for Women (SCW). The minister conveyed greetings and congratulations from HRH Princess Sabeeka to Antonio Guterres for being sworn in as the UN Secretary-General, as well as her wishes of a fruitful career in order to carry on the UN’s efforts to further serve humanity, achieve the aspirations of all for peace and prosperity and ensure that everyone enjoy their rights without discrimination or exclusion. In her speech, delivered by the Foreign Minister, HRH Princess Sabeeka stated that the Kingdom of Bahrain, under the leadership of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, and the support of His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, and His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister, affirms its support to the UN’s efforts to safeguard international security and peace. This is in addition to backing national efforts to achieve comprehensive and sustainable development of countries, as well as to enable all to fulfill their international obligations, and implement development action agendas, for a more stable, secure and prosperous world. He expressed looking forward to supporting the activities of the Commission on the Status of Women aimed at achieving a balance between equality and the empowerment of women and girls in line with the membership of the Kingdom of Bahrain in the commission for the next four years as well as the Executive Office of the United Nations for the coming two years. The Minister stressed that the continuation of sincere intentions and hard work is the best way to combat the forces of extremism and terrorism, who are fighting common human sense of tolerance and coexistence, which must require the preservation of freedoms and rights in order to establish rules of justice and equal opportunities for all. He added that this is pursued by the Kingdom of Bahrain in all seriousness, which provided a solid ground for the growing participation of Bahraini women in all fields, where their contributions have been witnessed for nearly 100 years, especially in the fields of education, medicine, nursing, trade and political participation, which began to take shape with establishment of the first municipal council in the twenties of the last century. The Minister praised the role of the Supreme Council for Women as a national mechanism specializing in women's affairs based on this heritage and cultural wealth, to reach, 15 years after its establishment under the leadership of the First Lady of Bahrain, advanced stages of giving and participation. Shaikh Khalid highlighted a number of the visualizations under the practical reality in the Kingdom of Bahrain as part of the institutional system to follow up on the progress of women and in the community context to guarantee fair participation and equal opportunities. He added that social justice between men and women is a fundamental basis for achieving comprehensive development in its various aspects. This is only achieved through a real integration of women, based on the principles of equal opportunities responsive to the needs of men and women alike, and through vigilant and attentive development policies, aware of any gaps that lead to wasting half of the human resources and energies in any community. The Minister noted that the presence of the political will that believes in women's potential and the importance of investing in their capabilities is fundamental to the success of the march of progress of women and a reason to overcome the most important challenges surrounding the sustainability of their progress. This is in addition to the community that embraces the role of women and support more initiatives complementary to the role that is being handled by the political decision, namely that there is a consensus and convergence between the two wills to maximize the achievements of women. He stressed that issue of the empowerment of women and the society as a whole cannot be separated, where experience has shown that the community collectively embracing women's issues in order to provide fair opportunities and diversify options will allow for women the opportunity to control the reins of their lives, as well as ensure investment returns in women's capabilities, to achieve in the end able and empowered women. The Minister called for the national mechanisms concerned work to follow up on the progress of women and constantly reconsider the nature of the role of women and their relations with their partners in society. This is to achieve the balance between the desired role in the care, protection, and solving problems that women face in their daily lives, and their role as a component basis in the process of development and the renaissance of nations, for those nations and communities to be able to carry out their duties to the fullest. Shaikh Khalid expressed the thanks and appreciation of the Kingdom of Bahrain to the commission for passing the issue on the economic empowerment of women and adopting the Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa Global Award for Women Empowerment. He added that this initiative started nationally 10 years ago to encourage state institutions to establish policies based on finding a balance between the workers of both genders, reduce any gaps hindering women's participation and the speed of progress, provide an environment supportive of women maintaining their achievements in the labour market and to become a contributing factor in increasing competitiveness and productivity. The Minister affirmed that Bahraini women were able to Bahraini women were able to make up 55 per cent in supervisory positions, a presence of a total of 53 per cent in the government sector and a presence of women in the private sector reaching about 33%, while the percentage of businesswomen in Bahrain is nearly 40%. This is thanks to the keenness of the Kingdom of Bahrain in the participation of women in the national economic development by establishing the necessary policies and plans as well as sources of funding, provide investment and fields of trains, establish business incubators, set up equal opportunities committees and implement budgets responsive to the needs of women and men. In conclusion, Shaikh Khalid expressed the pride of the Kingdom of Bahrain in the UN’s efforts, represented by the Commission on the Status of Women, to follow up the progress of women everywhere, for a safer, secure and stable world. He thanked the Commission on the Status of Women for this annual opportunity for the exchange of views, experiences and expertise to create a future that can sustain success and brighter future for future generations. The launch of the HRH Princess Sabeeka’s Global Award for Women Empowerment ceremony also featured the signing of a memorndum of understanding between the SCW and CSW to promote the award. Speaking during the ceremony, held on the sidelines of the 61st CSW session, SCW Secretary-General, Hala Al-Ansari, delivered a speech in which she extended sincere thanks to the UN-Women for adopting the prestigious initiative as one of the successful practices that contribute to strengthening women’s status at the international level and achieving development goals that are related to justice between men and women. She expressed Bahrain’s pride in sharing its decade-long experience in women empowerment with the world, stressing that the kingdom boasts a rich experience in integrating women’s needs in development and ensuring equal opportunities, which, she said, has gained the country international praise, citing the designation of Bahrain as the “Capital of Arab Women” in 2017. Al-Ansari pointed out that that award aims to highlight and appreciate the institutional and individual efforts, initiatives and projects that target mainstreaming women’s needs so as to bring about a positive change in the status of women towards a more stable and productive life. She added that the three-category award, with $ 100 thousand allocated for each, aims to ensure commitment of countries, official agencies and organisations, through their legislative, public and private executive authorities as well as the civil society, to adopting non-discriminatory policies against women and achieving justice in equal opportunities between women and men in various fields. Ms. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women, also delivered a statement in which she highlighted the existing cooperation between Bahrain and UN Women as reflected in the MoU signed between them to consolidate women’s participation and progress. Chairperson of the 61st Session of the CSW extended thanks and appreciation to the Kingdom of Bahrain and UN-Women for launching the prestigious initiatives targeting public and private institutions, civil society organisations and individuals, lauding Bahrain’s launch of the global initiative during the 61st session, which reflects its cooperation with the UN. Regional Director of UN Women – Arab States/North Africa, Mohammad Naciri, in his speech, explained the nomination mechanisms, as well as the criteria for winning it. The ceremony also featured a short film highlighting the progress of Bahraini women and their landmark achievements under HM King Hamad’s Reform Project. It also shed light on the national achievements that contributed to empowering Bahraini women, as well as on the success of the HRH Princess Sabeeka’s Award for Women Empowerment at the local level in advancing Bahraini women.