Bahrain women’s strides stressed

New York, Sep.26 (BNA): The Minister of Social Development, Faiqa bint Saeed Al Saleh, delivered a speech during a discussion session on combating inequalities and the empowerment of women and girls that was held in New York as part of the UN summit adopting the developmental plan post-2015. She affirmed during her speech the keenness of the Kingdom of Bahrain to bolster the achievements and status of women in all aspects to further empower women and support their role in the comprehensive development in the Kingdom under the reform project of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa that came in line with all the developmental dimensions adopted by the UN that it seeks to achieve. The minister stressed that the Kingdom of Bahrain was able to achieve many accomplishments in the field of gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, where Bahraini women participate on an equal footing with men in all levels of decision-making in the political, economic and public life, and enjoy a respectable status in society, with their high efficiency that qualifies them to carry out their leading role in various work fields. The minister reviewed the pillars of the Kingdom’s support to women, including Bahrain's Constitution, which stipulates in its first article that "citizens, men and women, have the right to participate in public affairs and to enjoy political rights, including the right to vote and to be elected," and the establishment of the Supreme Council for Women headed by His Majesty the King’s wife, Her Royal Highness Princess Shaikha Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa. This is in addition to tireless efforts to promote equality, the integration of the needs of women in the public sector and private institutions, promoting a culture of integration and increasing awareness on the principles of equal opportunity, in addition to the establishment of national mechanisms to establish and support women's rights and the issuance of a number of laws in order to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls in the public and private spheres, as well as the elimination of harmful practices such as child marriage and early marriage.