SCW holds meeting

Manama, Feb.15 (BNA): The Supreme Council for Women (SCW) held here a consultative meeting, which discussed the fifth version of the electoral empowerment of Bahraini women's programme for 2016-2018, in the presence of a number of MPs, representatives of related judicial, official and civil enterprises, experts, writers and specialists. SCW Secretary-General Dr. Hala Al Ansari praised Bahraini women's achievements during the reform era, led by His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and said that the establishment of the SCW, which represents a specialised authority for putting appropriate policies, strategies and plans that integrates the needs of women in the national development programmes. The meeting reviewed the proposed general framework of the electoral empowerment programme for 2016-2018, SCW's efforts in the development of these themes based on the previous experience at implementing the programme since its inception in 2002, in line with the terms of reference and working mechanisms of the SCW, with a focus at this stage on legislative and parliamentary work on 2016-2018 period, based on its link with the next elections in 2018. Shura Council First Deputy Chairman Jamal Fakhro stressed the importance of removing all obstacles hindering the participation of Bahraini women in political work. He underscored the meeting' importance in benefiting from past experiences. Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Bahrain Institute for Political Development (BIPD) Dr. May Sulaiman Al-Otaibi expressed pride in the SCW's remarkable march since its inception and stressed the need to focus on the media aspect in the future. Legislation and Legal Opinion Commission (LLOC) Vice-President and SCW Member Masooma Abdulrasool Isa said that SCW's accumulated expertise will reflect positively on this document and SCW will be able to recognise its partners in the community at enabling women politically, on the electoral side. Member of the Shura Council and SCW Dalal Al Zayed said that it is an integrated programme that includes a number of key partnerships in order to achieve the desired goals.