HRH Crown Prince’s support for enhancing women’s participation in national development praised by SCW Secretary-General

Manama, Aug. 29 (BNA): In line with the directives of the Government Executive Committee, chaired by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister, a package of decisions directly related to women’s sustainable contributions to the national development march and the integration of their needs in the labour market have been issued by many government departments. The Government Executive Committee meeting, held last Tuesday, discussed a number of initiatives aimed at advancing Bahraini women, based on the recommendation of the Supreme Council for Women (SCW), in cooperation with the Finance and National Economy Ministry. In this regard, the Labour and Social Development Ministry issued three edicts to enhance equality between women and men at work, including banning wage discrimination between male and female workers with the same job and similar work conditions, allowing women to work in all industries without restrictions and their employment in all professions that require night shifts. The three edicts are consistent with the Law 36/2012 promulgating the Labour Law in the Private Sector. The Social Insurance Organisation (SIO) also issued an edict stipulating that all leaves mentioned in the Labour Law in the Private Sector shall be counted within the periods of participation subject to the provisions of the Social Insurance Law, including the paid leave or unpaid leave that a working woman obtains in case of childbirth or that she deserves to take care of her child. The Executive Committee also approved the issuance of a circular by the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) to institutions licensed to provide financial services subject to the CBB’s supervision to prohibit any discrimination based on gender, nationality, origin, language, creed, religion, physical disability, or social status in delivering banking and financial services. On this occasion, SCW Secretary-General, Hala Al-Ansari, praised HRH the Crown Prince’s special interest and keenness in maintaining the advanced levels of Bahraini women's participation in the national economy, as this reflects directly on Bahrain’s competitiveness at the international level, and embodies the advanced position of the national male and female competencies, in line with the goals and objectives of the Bahrain Economic Vision 2030. She stressed that HRH the Crown Prince’s prompt response to the SCW’s visions, through his directives to the relevant ministries and entities, will have a great impact on the results of the implementation of the National Plan for the Advancement of Bahraini Women and the National Model to Integrate Women’s Needs in Development on which the SCW’s efforts to institutionalise the equal opportunities practices and methods in partnership and coordination between the Legislative and Executive branches are based. Al-Ansari affirmed that the issuance of the quality decisions is part of the government’s serious endeavours to implement its comprehensive gender balance policies, within the framework of the periodic revision of government priorities and regulations, out of its keenness to ensure the sound implementation of legislation and laws that are directly or indirectly related to women’s rights, and in order to preserve the Bahraini family’s stability and welfare. She pointed out that the SCW had submitted these proposals within the framework of its continuous follow-up on the Kingdom’s obligations in international agreements and reports related to the advancement of Bahraini women. They are also in line with the SCW’s keenness to ensure the validity of the data, information and statistics included in those reports, as well as the accuracy of what is contained in them based on the latest achievements of Bahrain women nationally, Al-Ansari added.