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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%


Ministry of Labour and Social Development  has adopted a package of current and future projects and initiatives aimed at increasing the integration rates of Bahraini women into the labor market and increasing their participation in the private sector by providing suitable job opportunities and improving the working environment and conditions to suit the specificity of women. The Public Sector Labour Law explicitly provides for the prohibition of discrimination between the sexes.
The Supreme Council for Women  was also established under the leadership of Her Royal Highness Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa, the wife of the King of Bahrain, to complete the efforts of the Kingdom of Bahrain to empower women. The council is composed of sixteen female public figures who have experience in women's affairs.
The government bodies have formed equal opportunities committees, which aim at integrating the needs of women in the framework of equal opportunities in all fields of work and working to achieve the principle of equal opportunities among all employees and beneficiaries and services provided by that body in coordination with the Supreme Council for Women . Such a committee will express its opinion on the issues relating to the integration of women's needs within the framework of equal opportunities.  The governmental sector institutions have formed forty-five equal opportunity committees following the issuance of the instructions of Civil Service Bureau  No. (4) of 2014 on the establishment of equal opportunities committees in the government sector.

National Plan for the Advancement of Bahraini Women (independent advancement)
The National Plan for the Advancement of Bahraini Women (independent advancement) (2013 - 2022)  includes five aspects that seek to ensure family stability in the context of family cohesion, and enable them to contribute competitively to development track, which is based on the principle of equal opportunities and integrating the needs of women in development, with a vision that is built on equal partnership to build a sustainable competitive community.



The Ministry of Labour & Social Development has also applied a set of other projects in contribution to this field as follows:
 

Licensing the institution of nurseries to natural or legal persons: Women are now motivated to engage in labour markets and to withstand the lack of intriguing motivating conditions including the availability of nurseries in their workplaces, an educated and married woman with children usually prefers to have their workplace near a nursery for her child. In this context, a Resolution No. (46) of 2014 has been issued to amend Article (7) of Resolution No. (11) of 2014 regarding the institution of nurseries. According to Article (1) with regard to nurseries licensed to legal persons such educational institutions and others, the Ministry can exclude some of the terms and conditions specified for licensing nurseries in accordance with the provisions of this resolution. However, nurseries licensed to legal persons must abide by Resolution No. 11 of 2014 as well as the standards, specifications and requirements stipulated by law in terms of their institutions and jobs with exception to some of these requirements and specifications and their additions for these nurseries.

(Khatwa) Program for Home-based Projects: Women constitute the largest segment benefiting from the services of the integrated Step Program (Khatwa) that aims to empower the Bahraini citizen economically and increase the size of the economic returns for him through encouraging household business. The program also shares in enhancing the productive and administrative capabilities of citizens through the centres of specialized productive families established in all governorates of the Kingdom. It is worth noting that the percentage of female beneficiaries of these services reaches %77. Step Program also provides initial and professional training and contributes to the opening of production units equipped with all the requirements needed for running production and marketing products locally and internationally through the exhibitions continuously hold as well as other local sales outlets for marketing and distribution of products such as the Capital Mall for Bahraini Handmade Products and Sitra Centre for Productive Families. Such centres represent specialized fully-integrated foundations for manufacturing free services of long-term packed foodstuff under strict health supervision to be introduced to citizens.



Goal One: End poverty in all its forms everywhere
Goal Two: End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
Goal Three: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all age
Goal Four: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
Goal Five: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
Goal Six: Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
Goal Seven: Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
Goal Eight: Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
Goal Nine: Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
Goal Ten: Reduce inequality within and among countries
Goal Eleven:  Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
Goal Twelve:Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
Goal Thirteen: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts[b]
Goal Fourteen: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
Goal Fifteen: Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
Goal Sixteen: Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
Goal Seventeen: Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development
SDGs Bahrain

Page Last Updated: 10 February, 2020