SCW: Women's economic presence increasing

Manama, Jan. 28 (BNA): Director of the National Strategy for the Advancement of Bahraini Women at the Supreme Council for Women (SCW), Rana Ahmed Khalifa has asserted that the official statistics related to the Bahraini women’s economic activities show an increasing and sustainable presence in this field. Statistics reveal that the individual active women-owned commercial registations that are active for more than five years account for more than 51% in 2016, Rana Ahmed said while commenting on an article published by a local newspaper on the sustainability of Bahraini women in the commercial field. She also pointed out that the percentage of active individual women-owned commercial registrations had gone up from 37% in 2010 to 43%, or by 23143, of the totak commercial registrations owned by Bahrainis, noting that the registration’s operation rates cannot be measured accurately for both men and women. She highlighted the report issued by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in 2015, themed "Women in Business and Management: Gaining momentum". According to the report, Bahrain ranked first in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region in the Self-employed businesswomen index, with 28%. It also revealed that company boards with women members in Bahrain had grown from 12% in 2010 to 14% in 2014, while the share of women in the baords across the Gulf Cooperation Council countries was 2% or less, she said. She added that the SCW will continue to build the necessary partnerships to complete the economic work system through providing all services required for the economic empowerment programmes, be it through loans or easy financing, in addition to all the administrative, consulting, training and technical services needed by women in order to join the entrepreneurship field. She highlighted the launch of the HRH Princess Sabeeka’s “Financial Portfolio » for supporting women's trade activitiein 2010 to support mico projects through granting Islamic Sharia-compliant loans, as well as the prvision of consulation and training services for women, and the launch of the "Bahraini Female Entrepreneur Honour Seal. » The SCW also reiterated its keenness on working with the relevant parties to put forward an integrated system to empower Bahraini women economically through supporting their economic activities, and encouraging them to be self-reliant through starting their own commercial projects or developing their current projects. This stems from the keenness to carry on the implementation of the National Plan for the Advancement of Bahraini Women 2013-2022, within the "Family Staility" theme aiming to empower Bahraini women economically.