A SPECIAL index to monitor the gap in equality between women and men at the national level is in the pipeline, according to an official.
Supreme Council for Women (SCW) secretary general Hala Al Ansari said the list would include a number of detailed parameters that monitor areas of development and opportunities for investment.
She was speaking during a forum organised by the Bahrain Centre for Strategic, International and Energy Studies (Derasat) in collaboration with the SCW to highlight ‘The Role of Women in Policy-Making, Think Tanks and Research’ at the Wyndham Grand Manama yesterday.
“Bahrain has succeeded in developing a comprehensive and integrated policy for the advancement of Bahraini women,” said Ms Al Ansari.
“State institutions are working to include their plans in various work programmes, where ‘Equal Opportunities Committees’ follow up on the enforcement of operations and prepare annual reports to clarify the result of this approach.
“The state budget is characterised as a budget responsive to women’s needs, where ministries and institutions are obliged to classify their budgets and follow up on the aspects of their disbursement by indicating the percentage of what is allocated to women compared to men as workers or as beneficiaries of state services.”
According to Ms Al Ansari, to ensure support to government efforts, the SCW set up a Women’s Information Centre, which manages a National Observatory for Gender Balance.
It also carries out qualitative studies, follows up on the implementation of recommendations, and encourages fruitful dialogues with specialists to exchange experience and knowledge in the areas of women’s advancement.
“The SCW is also proud of the joint project with the Royal University for Bahrain (RUW) in the establishment of a Centre for Women’s Studies, as a research arm for the SCW,” added Ms Al Ansari.
“We hope that the centre will be able to overcome the challenges surrounding its role to become one of the distinguished models in the field of supporting the role of women and their issues in think tanks and research centres.”
The two-day forum, which concludes today, includes the participation of specialists, experts and policymakers from the region and the world as well as representatives of international organisations, international researchers and representatives of international think-tanks.
Also taking part are female executives who have previously worked in think-tanks as well as government institutions to discuss the best ways to advance and enhance the role of women across all sectors.
“Despite what the world is witnessing in terms of the increase in the percentage of educational attainment and academic achievement among females, their participation in the fields of scientific research still needs more support,” said Derasat board chairman Dr Shaikh Abdulla bin Ahmed Al Khalifa.
“This despite the efforts made by the UN and many countries to bridge the gap and achieve parity between both genders in all fields.
“This leads us to emphasise the importance of ensuring parity in science and work, and even supporting women to help them achieve scientific progress in addition to their societal responsibilities and harnessing the necessary programmes to qualify both genders to achieve the parity that the UN aspires to by 2030.”
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