Productive families honoured

Manama, Mar. 2 (BNA): Under the patronage 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 distribution ceremony of the HRH Princess Sabeeka's Award for Productive Families at the local and Arab levels was held today. HRH Princess Sabeeka deputised HH Shaikha Hessa bint Khalifa Al Khalifa, Wife of HH Shaikh Abdulla bin Hamad Al Khalifa and Executive Director of INJAZ Bahrain to attend the ceremony, organised by the Labour and Social Development Ministry at the Sharifa Al-Awadhi Children and Youth Club in Riffa. Shaikha Hessa honoured the winners of HRH Princess Sabeeka's Award for Productive Families. The Arab edition of the Best Productive Family Award was granted to the family of Nawal bint Al-Fadhel, from Morocco, while the local edition was granted to the Said Al-Ghaib. Regarding the Best Product Award, it was clinched by Ahmed Abdulaziz, from Qatar, and Nawal Mohammed Abdulla, from Bahrain. Sudan-based Omdurman National Bank, and the Royal Charity Organisation, from Bahrain, won the Best Sponsor of Productive Families Award, for the Arab and local editions, respectively. Shaikha Hessa also inaugurated an exhibition showcasing productive families' items. The expo aims to motivate low-income families to enter into small enterprises, encourage talent, as well as hone and embrace skills, and provide an opportunity for families to find new sources of income to improve their economic conditions. Participants in this year's HRH Princess Sabeeka's Award for Productive Families included 193 from Bahrain and 12 from GCC and Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, Kuwait, Oman, Morocco, Jordan, Palestine, Egypt, Sudan and Yemen. In a speech during the ceremony, Labour and Social Development Minister, Jameel bin Mohammed Ali Humaidan, extended sincere thanks and appreciation to HRH Princess Sabeeka for patronising the event, and personal interest in supporting the fruitful outcomes of one of her pioneering initiatives, as well as development and humanitarian projects aimed at serving the family and society. He also extended deepest congratulations to HRH Princess Sabeeka for being granted the Arab Women in recognition of her unrelenting and influential efforts to promote the institutional momentum to empower Arab women and ensure sustainable development of Bahraini women as well as maximize their development contributions. The minister praised HRH Princess Sabeeka's unwavering support to the Productive Families project which, he said, has yielded many achievements and positive results, adding that her royal patronage of award for ten year is a reassertion of her strong belief in the need to continue support such a vital project which reached the Arab world. Then, Arab League's Director of Development and Social Policies, Tariq Al-Nabulsi, extended sincere thanks and gratitude to HRH Princess Sabeeka for increasing support to productive families, which, he said, emanates from her deep belief in the importance of empowering families economically and improving their standard of living. He expressed hope that homer-made products will be marketed more effectively at the Arab and international levels so as to ensure the continuity of such enterprises that represent the main source of income for many families. Said Al-Ghaib delivered a statement on behalf of the honourees. He extended heartfelt thanks and appreciation to HRH Princess Sabeeka for her constant support to Bahraini productive families, which, he said, has significantly contributed to the development of their products, He added that thanks to Princess Sabeeka's support, home industries have flourished and become the main source of income for hundreds of Bahraini and Arab families. The contribution of home-made products to the national economy have also increased more effectively, he said. The ceremony also featured a short film on the kingdom's experience in sewing gold filaments, known locally as "Al-Zari". The exhibition was open to the public today from 16:00 to 21:00, and will open from 09:00 to 21:00 on Friday and Saturday.