Bahraini women's outstanding participation in elections hailed

Manama, Dec. 10 (BNA): Her Royal Highness Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa, Wife of His Majesty the King and President of the Supreme Council for Women (SCW) lauded anew success of the parliamentary and municipal elections, praising the outstanding participation of Bahraini women as voters and candidates. She pointed out that six women won seats in the Representatives Council and four in the municipal councils, which asserts maturity of the Bahraini society and belief in women's ability to assume responsibilities side by side with men. She added that the rate of Bahraini women's presence in the legislative branch has gone up to 19%. HRH Princess Sabeeka was speaking as she chaired the third meeting of SCW sixth session. The council endorsed the theme of Bahraini Women's Day 2019 which will be allocated to celebrate "Bahraini Women in the Higher Education Field and Future Sciences". She hailed the council's local, regional and international achievements in 2018, expressing keenness on bringing about further accomplishments in 2019 in order to realise the aspirations of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. SCW Secretary General Hala Al Ansari said the council spotlighted in its meeting today women-related issues, including activities marking the Bahraini Women's Day 2018, procedures taken regarding women's political participation programme "electoral preparation 2018", following up on the implementation of the national strategy to protect women against family violence, the next strategic plan and its correlation with the government's work programmes 2019-2022. The council's Secretariat General was tasked to take the necessary executive procedures to carry out the national empowerment plan and follow up on its inclusion in the next government work plan. The Supreme Council for Women approved a proposal to rename Princess Sabeeka Women Empowerment Award and create new categories in it. It also approved a draft national report on gender balance (2016-2017) in preparation for its referral to the Cabinet. It also approved the general framework proposal of the national family services and awareness programme which aims to boost integration between the relevant parties to upgrade programmes and services provided for Bahraini families and benchmark their positive effect.