Parliamentary delegation participates in IPU’s seminar on women

Second Deputy Chairperson of the Shura Council, Jameela Ali Salman, has stressed that the Legislative Branch in the kingdom has completed the basic legislation and laws that guarantee the protection of women’s rights, based on the provisions of the Constitution and the National Action Charter.

The existing fruitful cooperation among the Shura and Representatives councils, the government and the official entities, particularly the Supreme Council for Women (SCW), has resulted in enacting many laws that regulate women’s rights and enable them to enjoy their role in the nation-building and development process to the fullest, being among the main sustainable development goals, she said.

While heading the kingdom’s parliamentary delegation to the Regional Seminar on the Sustainable Development Goals and Gender Equality for Parliaments of the Middle East and North Africa, held in Alexandria, Egypt, Salman pointed out that His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa AL Khalifa’s Reform Project has enabled Bahraini women to enjoy the status they well-deserve in various sectors, through a number of national and strategic initiatives aimed at empowering politically and economically, among others, through strengthening the principle of equal opportunities, both as a concept and a culture, in addition to the establishment of special units to follow up on its implementation on the ground by ministries and government departments.

She explained that the Legislative Branch has supported the kingdom’s access to women-related international conventions, noting that Bahrain has achieved remarkable progress in lifting some reservations on the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), as well as in enacting many laws aimed at protecting the family from violence and regulating the personal status.

She affirmed that the constant support of Her Royal Highness Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa, Wife of HM the King and SCW President, and her follow-up on the issues of Bahraini and Arab women have contributed significantly to the kingdom’s success in reaching advanced levels at the international level.

The Regional Seminar on the Sustainable Development Goals and Gender Equality for Parliaments of the Middle East and North Africa is organised by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union and Egypt’s House of Representatives.

The seminar, bringing together Arab and GCC parliamentary delegations, offers a platform for participants to discuss concrete solutions from the region to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and especially gender equality and women’s empowerment.