New Equal Opportunities Unit welcomed

Manama, Apr. 1 (BNA): Secretary-General of the Supreme Council for Women (SCW) Hala Al-Ansari has welcomed the establishment of an Equal Opportunities Unit at the Tender Board following Instruction 4/2014 issued by the Civil Service Bureau (CSB). She praised the move as a major practical step towards achieving the principle of equal opportunities and implementing the National Plan for the Advancement of Bahrain Women and the National Model for the Integration of Women's Needs in Development. She highlighted the importance of establishing the unit at the Tender Board, given the key role player by the latter in supporting the national economy, noting that the panel will implement the equal opportunities principle, empower women staff and integrate their needs, which, she said, will ensure family stability and enhance Bahraini women’s competitive potentials. Al-Ansari lauded the decision of the Tender Board’s Secretary-General Huyam Mohammed Al-Awadhi to set up the unit which, she explained, seeks to ensure equal opportunities between men and women staff, integrate women’s needs in the Tender Board’s policies, strategies and practices, make sure the budgets cater to women’s needs, build women’s capacities, improve their work conditions and overcome the obstacles facing them in recruitment, training, scholarships and promotions. It is to be noted that His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa issued Royal Order 14/2011 on establishing the National Committee on Following up on the implementation of the National Model for the Integration of Women’s Needs in Development, chaired by Her Royal Highness Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa, Wife of HM the King and President of the SCW.