Kingdom of Bahrain Portal for Sustainable Development Goals

Goal Five: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

While the world has achieved progress towards gender equality and women’s empowerment under the Millennium Development Goals (including equal access to primary education between girls and boys), women and girls continue to suffer discrimination and violence in every part of the world. Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, but a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world. Providing women and girls with equal access to education, health care, decent work, and representation in political and economic decision-making processes will fuel sustainable economies and benefit societies and humanity at large.

Overview of some indicators

Proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments

15%

Proportion of Bahraini women in executive positions in public sectors

46%

Proportion of women who make their own informed decisions regarding sexual & reproductive health & reproductive rights

86.5%

Indicators

Target 5.1: End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere.
- Indicator 5.1.1: Whether or not legal frameworks are in place to promote, enforce and monitor equality and non-discrimination on the basis of sex
Target 5.2: Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation.
- Indicator 5.2.1: Proportion of ever-partnered women and girls aged 15 years and older subjected to physical, sexual or psychological violence by a current or former intimate partner in the previous 12 months, by form of violence and by age (Excel, 0.11MB, 1 Sheet)
- Indicator 5.2.2: Proportion of women and girls aged 15 years and older subjected to sexual violence by persons other than an intimate partner in the previous 12 months, by age and place of occurrence
Target 5.3: Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation.
- Indicator 5.3.1: Proportion of women aged 20-24 who were married or in a union before age 15 and before age 18 (Excel, 0.11MB, 1 Sheet)
- Indicator 5.3.2: Proportion of girls and women aged 15-49 years who have undergone female genital mutilation/cutting, by age (Excel, 0.01MB, 1 Sheet)
Target 5.4: Eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation.
- Indicator 5.4.1: Proportion of time spent on unpaid domestic and care work, by sex, age and location
Target 5.5: Recognize and value unpaid care and domestic work through the provision of public services, infrastructure and social protection policies and the promotion of shared responsibility within the household and the family as nationally appropriate.
- Indicator 5.5.1: Proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments and local governments (Excel, 0.11MB, 1 Sheet)
- Indicator 5.5.2: Proportion of women in managerial positions (Excel, 0.01MB, 1 Sheet)
Target 5.6: Ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights as agreed in accordance with the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development and the Beijing Platform for Action and the outcome documents of their review conferences.
- Indicator 5.6.1: Proportion of women aged 15-49 who make their own informed decisions regarding sexual relations, contraceptive use and reproductive health care (Excel, 0.01MB, 1 Sheet)
- Indicator 5.6.2: Number of countries with laws and regulations that guarantee women aged 15-49 access to sexual and reproductive health care, information and education (Excel, 0.11MB, 1 Sheet)
Target 5.a: Undertake reforms to give women equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to ownership and control over land and other forms of property, financial services, inheritance and natural resources, in accordance with national laws.
- Indicator 5.a.1: (a) Proportion of total agricultural population with ownership or secure rights over agricultural land, by sex; and (b) share of women among owners or rights-bearers of agricultural land, by type of tenure
- Indicator 5.a.2: Proportion of countries where the legal framework (including customary law) guarantees women's equal rights to land ownership and/or control
Target 5.b: Enhance the use of enabling technology, in particular information and communications technology, to promote the empowerment of women.
- Indicator 5.b.1: Proportion of individuals who own a mobile telephone, by sex (Excel, 0.11MB, 1 Sheet)
Target 5.c: Adopt and strengthen sound policies and enforceable legislation for the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls at all levels.
- Indicator 5.c.1: Proportion of countries with systems to track and make public allocations for gender equality and women’s empowerment

Other Indicators

Policies & initiatives support the goal

The National Strategy for the Advancement of Bahraini Women

His Majesty the King adopted the National Strategy for the Advancement of Bahraini Women in a historical precedent; becoming the first qualitative strategy concerned with women’s affairs to be adopted by a head of state in the Arab world. The Supreme Council for Women (SCW) launched the National Plan for the Advancement of Bahraini Women (2013-2022) to implement the strategy, which was prepared in active partnership with all components of society and institutions. The Plan includes five pillars that seek to ensure family stability within the framework of family interdependence, and to enable women to meet the requirements of competitive participation in national development, based on the principle of equal opportunities.

The National Gender Balance Model and Report

The National Gender Balance Model was developed to support the implementation of the National Plan for the Advancement of Bahraini Women. The National Model acts as a national action guide targeting policymakers, parliamentarians, and project implementers to ensure the empowerment and advancement of women at the national level and across five themes: Policies, Budgets, Knowledge, Management, Auditing, Monitoring, and Measuring Impact. The National Gender Balance Report has also been adopted by the Government as a means to evaluate the performance of the public sector in terms of following up on the implementation of equal opportunities and achieving gender balance and equality in development fields.

International Cooperation

Bahrain acceded to numerous treaties supporting women rights and equality, notably the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), an international blueprint for gender equality, and the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. At the 146th Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly, hosted in Bahrain, the Kingdom launched a Parliamentary Handbook for Mainstreaming Women’s Needs in Development, issued by the SCW. The Handbook is aligned with international commitments like CEDAW, Beijing Declaration, and SDG 5 (Gender Equality), serving as a guide and reference to all parliaments in equality in legislation, policies, and national action plans, enhancing gender balance and equality throughout parliamentarian work.

Goal Five: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

Indicators

Other Indicators

Policies & initiatives support the goal

Stakeholders

eServices & Systems

References