HRH Princess Sabeeka to patronise high-level women conference

Manama, Dec.5 (BNA): Under the auspices of Her Royal Highness Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al-Khalifa, Wife of HM the King and President of the Supreme Council for Women (SCW), the SCW will organise the High-Level Conference on "Women in Public Life: From Policies to Impact" in association with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on December 8-10. The conference will focus on highlighting the efforts of the MENA region with regards to women’s participation in public life and will also take stock on the progress in implementing the regional recommendations to strengthen gender equality in public life included in the OECD-CAWTAR report "Women in Public Life: Gender, Law and Policy in the Middle East and North Africa". The report highlights the main trends of mainstreaming women’s needs, policies and the legal settings across the region. It also presents recommendations related to policies based on international standards and good practices from OECD and MENA countries. The conference is expected to discuss several issues, most notably promoting women’s participation in public life for inclusive economic policies, and equal opportunities in the private sector, promoting equal opportunities in parliamentary practices, and the role of civil society institutions, in addition to building accountability – from strategy to impact. In this context, the conference will gather high-level representatives from ministers and heads of international and regional organizations working in the areas of women's affairs, policy-makers and practitioners from countries in the Middle East and North Africa, and the countries of OECD, as well as specialists from inside and outside Bahrain. Bahrain has ranked first with respect to the participation of women in senior management position in the public sector at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Report 2013, where the percentage of women employed in the public sector in the administrative senior positions was 45% and exceeded the average in comparison to other countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) which was 29.1%. In addition, the participation rate of Bahraini women in middle management positions amounted to 59%. OECD was established in 1948 as a major international economic organization with a membership of 34 countries. Some of OECD’s objectives are the commitment to support the sustainable growth projects and job creation, as well as to maintain the financial stability of the member countries in particular. OECD headquartered in Paris, is committed to sustainable growth, employment support, raising living standards, maintains financial stability, assist other countries in economic development, and contributes to the growth of world trade. It is one of the largest and most reliable sources of comparable statistics and economic and social data States.