Few people can claim to have done as much for empowering women in Bahrain as the wife of King Hamad, Her Royal Highness Princess Sabeeka Al Khalifa, the President of the Supreme Council for Women.
Princess Sabeeka took a leading personal role in formulating the National Strategy for the Advancement of Bahraini Women by the Supreme Council for Women, which became the Supreme Council’s core strategy paper.
During 2006, Princess Sabeeka launched the first women’s political empowerment programme of its kind in the Arab region, which took the form of seminars, training forums and workshops for supporting the role of women in public life.
Princess Sabeeka has spearheaded a number of awards and initiatives for encouraging the role of women, including an initiative for promoting the achievements of women entrepreneurs. Other programmes aspire to reduce women’s unemployment, provide funds to help women set themselves up in business and address domestic violence or discrimination. Princess Sabeeka has also done a lot of work to support low-income families.
In short, through her role in the Supreme Council for Women and through a broad number of independent initiatives, Princess Sabeeka has worked to improve all aspects of women’s lives and can be said to have touched the lives of every woman living in Bahrain, in one way or another.
Princess Sabeeka’s other roles and achievements are too numerous to mention here, but include vital work like preventing human trafficking, promoting Bahrain’s agricultural sector, and advocating for legislations which protect women’s rights.
Bahraini women are ahead of most of the region in political empowerment, their economic role and socialinfluence. This is thanks in no small part to the continuing efforts of the wife of His Majesty King Hamad over the past 15 years.
First for Bahrain
- Bahrain’s first mosque
- First artificial islands
- Female president of UN General Assembly
- First nation to host Gulf Cup
- First mention in historical record
- First modern schools
- First causeway
- First oil well in the region
- First media outlets
- Bahrain’s first lady
- Women in medicine
- International Airshow
- First referendum
- First Grand Prix