SCW launches National Plan for the Advancement of Bahraini Women 2025–2026

Biz Bahrain

5 days ago

The Supreme Council for Women (SCW), chaired by Her Royal Highness Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa, Consort of His Majesty the King, has launched the National Plan for the Advancement of Bahraini Women 2025–2026.
The plan focuses on four priority areas: family stability, decision making, economic participation, and quality of life. Each area includes initiatives across five key dimensions: policies, gender responsive budgeting, awareness and training, auditing and oversight, and monitoring and evaluation.
The National Plan for the Advancement of Bahraini Women 2025–2026 was developed based on solid foundations derived from national principles and frameworks, including the Royal Decree establishing the Supreme Council for Women, its direct affiliation to His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, and its presidency by Her Royal Highness Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa, Consort of His Majesty the King.
The plan is further grounded in the Council's mandate as outlined in Royal Decree (44) of 2001 and its amendments, the components of the National Strategy for the Advancement of Bahraini Women endorsed by His Majesty the King in 2005, as well as previous national plans for 2007–2012 and 2013–2022, and the evaluation report of the 2013–2022 plan.
The plan also draws inspiration from Bahrain Economic Vision 2030, the aspirations of Vision 2050, the Government Programme, and the National Gender Balance Model. It aligns with the concluding observations on Bahrain's international mandatory and voluntary reports, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
In addition, the plan is informed by the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda, with particular focus on goals that are directly relevant to women, namely Goal 5 on achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls, and Goal 10 on reducing inequality within and among countries.
The National Plan for the Advancement of Bahraini Women 2025–2026 builds upon the significant progress made in empowering Bahraini women and their access to leadership and decision making roles across vital sectors. It serves as a strategic roadmap aimed at further advancing women's leadership and reinforcing the sustainability of their contributions.
The plan seeks to enhance women's participation in national development within an enabling legislative environment and through policies that support women's advancement. It also focuses on continued efforts to invest in the development of women's capacities, ensure gender balance, and promote equal opportunities across all fields.
This approach aims to sustain the achievements of Bahraini women, enabling them to carry out their national responsibilities with competence and distinction.
The plan adopts a rigorous scientific methodology in analysing the current status of Bahraini women. Within each of its four focus areas, the plan includes a dedicated component for follow up and evaluation, centred on impact assessment.
This involves presenting detailed diagnostics based on the latest official data and statistics, alongside key performance indicators designed to measure progress toward the objectives of each area. These indicators evaluate the efficiency, impact, and effectiveness of the related initiatives.
The resulting assessments provide a clear picture of the current situation and a comprehensive evaluation of the implementation outcomes. This forms the basis for setting future goals and formulating the necessary plans to maintain progress.
An assessment of the current participation of Bahraini women reveals a notable increase in their presence across key sectors, disciplines, and fields.
Bahraini women have moved beyond the empowerment phase in political and public life, advancing toward leadership by assuming decision making roles. They have held ministerial posts in areas such as health, housing, tourism, youth, and sustainable development, in addition to executive positions across both the public and private sectors.
This progression reflects broader trends in gender participation indicators and highlights a growing societal awareness of the importance of women's engagement in public affairs.
Bahraini women have established a strong presence in elected councils and made significant strides within the legislative authority, including holding leadership roles such as the presidency of the Council of Representatives. They have also taken on key roles in municipal councils, the judiciary, and the Public Prosecution.
These achievements reflect the success of a structured institutional approach rooted in firm national principles. This approach has been driven by the Supreme Council for Women since its establishment, through mechanisms such as memoranda of understanding and cooperation agreements with ministries and official institutions, integration of the national plan into the government action programme, and implementation of the national model for gender balance.
In terms of political participation, women held eight seats in the Council of Representatives in 2023, accounting for 20% of its membership. In the Shura Council, ten women served, representing 25%. Women also held three seats in municipal councils, or 10%, and four seats in the Capital Trustees Board, accounting for 40% in 2023. Additionally, a Bahraini woman assumed the presidency of the Council of Representatives in 2018.
In specialised sectors, Bahraini women continued to demonstrate strong representation. As of 2024, there were 2,798 Bahraini female doctors, comprising 66% of the total, and 3,657 Bahraini female nurses, accounting for 83%. In higher education, the number of Bahraini female academics reached 536 in 2023, representing 55% of the academic workforce. Additionally, there were 436 Bahraini female engineers in the public sector in 2024, making up 37%.
The National Plan for the Advancement of Bahraini Women 2025–2026 focuses on continuing efforts to close existing gaps and implement outstanding priorities from previous plans to support women's participation and achieve gender balance in sectors where women remain in the stages of empowerment or advancement.
It seeks to promote family stability for women by further developing the legislative framework, strengthening social protection policies, and raising legal and family awareness. The plan also underscores the importance of enhancing women's role within the family and society, preserving national values and identity, and maintaining the presence of women in leadership positions and decision making roles across various sectors.
In addition, the plan's directions include continued efforts to strengthen women's status in private sector institutions, increase their participation on corporate boards and in civil society organisations, and enhance their economic position to ensure sustainable economic engagement in the labour market.
The plan places particular focus on emerging and promising fields, especially in technology sectors such as artificial intelligence, renewable energy, and digital transformation. It aims to achieve equal opportunities and provide legal safeguards that help women balance family responsibilities with their professional roles.
Further, it promotes awareness of healthy lifestyle practices and environmental wellbeing to enhance women's quality of life, improve workplace safety services, and raise awareness of the impact of climate change on women's health while empowering their contribution to environmental preservation.
These integrated pillars align with royal directives, constitutional rights, and the mandate of the Supreme Council for Women, and support the Council's goals of empowering Bahraini women, advancing their achievements, and fostering leadership.
The plan establishes a clear institutional framework for implementing initiatives across its four focus areas. This framework precisely defines the roles and responsibilities of all relevant stakeholders, emphasising effective coordination mechanisms between government institutions, the private sector, and civil society organisations.
This institutional approach ensures that implementation is not confined to a single entity but is treated as a shared national responsibility involving various specialised bodies. It reflects the maturity of Bahrain's approach to women's empowerment and its commitment to enhancing institutional cooperation to achieve the plan's intended objectives.
The plan presents an ambitious vision that focuses on increasing women's economic participation while diversifying employment opportunities available to them. It places particular emphasis on emerging and modern sectors such as technology and the digital economy, ensuring alignment with the future needs of the labour.
This forward looking approach positions women's empowerment as a key driver of economic development and emphasises their role as essential partners in shaping the future of the nation.
The inclusion of family stability as a core priority in the National Plan for the Advancement of Bahraini Women 2025–2026 reflects the Supreme Council for Women's recognition of the vital role of women as active partners in building the nation, the family, and society. It underscores the importance of preserving national values and the authentic identity of the Bahraini family, and of ensuring a stable family environment that supports women's empowerment and enables them to balance their multiple roles.
The Council's focus on promoting family stability stems from the value placed on strong familial and social cohesion, and the importance of enhancing women's capacity to contribute competitively to national development. This is pursued within a framework of equal opportunities and the integration of women's needs into development processes, enabling women to access new opportunities for advancing their choices and achieving a healthy balance between personal and professional life.
The Supreme Council for Women has consistently worked to safeguard the achievements that have enabled Bahraini women to attain decision making positions, particularly within the legislative and executive branches. The Council continues to strive towards further strengthening women's representation in other areas, with the aim of increasing their presence in the judiciary, on the boards of major corporations, and within civil society institutions.
To support this, the Council is implementing initiatives that highlight women's success stories and the impact of their leadership. It also seeks to unify national efforts in establishing a comprehensive programme to support and enable women's access to the boards of public shareholding companies. This includes reviewing and developing relevant policies, as well as implementing awareness and training programmes to build women's leadership capacities and prepare them for board membership across promising domains.
Within the domain of economic participation, the plan aims to continue efforts to review and enhance policies, regulations, and frameworks that support and strengthen the role of women in the economic sector. It seeks to ensure the sustainability of women's active participation in the labour market and entrepreneurship, while promoting equal opportunities and gender balance.
The plan also focuses on highlighting exemplary female figures and their leadership in various economic fields. Special attention is given to emerging and promising areas, particularly within technological sectors such as artificial intelligence, digital content creation, digital transformation, information technology, financial technology, telecommunications, renewable energy, and modern sciences. The plan further emphasises the importance of providing legal protections to help women balance their family responsibilities with professional commitments.
The domain of quality of life includes the implementation of initiatives and awareness programmes aimed at promoting healthy, safe, and sustainable lifestyle practices for Bahraini women and their families. It also focuses on improving workplace safety services for women, supporting women's sports, and providing the necessary facilities to help women achieve a balanced and fulfilling quality of life.
These efforts complement national initiatives in the area of wellbeing, where Bahrain has made significant progress in promoting women's health and safety. The Kingdom continues to advance in this area in line with efforts to ensure that Bahraini women have access to diverse and evolving options for improving their quality of life. This is supported by enabling legislation, supportive policies, and the strategic partnerships of the Supreme Council for Women with national stakeholders committed to institutional progress for women.
Based on the framework outlined in the plan, the forthcoming phase of the Supreme Council for Women's work beyond 2026 will focus on marking a new stage in the advancement of Bahraini women. This stage will represent a shift from empowerment and progress to the pursuit of leadership.
The Council aspires to support Bahraini women in reaching new heights of distinguished leadership across various domains. This strategic transformation builds on years of dedicated efforts in the area of women's empowerment, in line with the Council's mandate, which has yielded tangible programmes and achievements at the local, regional, and international levels.
BNA(R)