The Supreme Council for Women (SCW) announced today the launch of the 6th edition of Her Royal Highness Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa Award for the Advancement of Bahraini Women. The biennial prize is granted to ministries as well as public and private institutions for their distinguished efforts in supporting active Bahraini women and adopting strategies to integrate their needs in development and equal opportunities. 
The announcement was made at a press conference held today with the participation of SCW Secretary General Hala Al Ansari, the Head of the jury, and members of the jury. Al Ansari pointed out the importance of the royal order to develop the name of the award and broaden the scope of its categories in tune with growing participation of Bahraini women in national development. 
She also stressed the role of the project at the local and international level as a diplomatic tool to project the kingdom’s successful experience as a think-tank in women empowerment and integration of their needs in the development process. She described the award as an essential part of the “equal opportunities” theme included in the national strategy for the empowerment of Bahraini women which adopts many initiatives to meet the Economic Vision 2030.
The SCW Secretary General said Bahrain has been able to mend 62% of the gender gap by promoting participation of Bahraini women in decision-making and economic development. 
She added the award aims principally to benchmark and highlight the national women empowerment efforts, ensure sustainability of gender balance, promote the culture of “equal opportunities”, exchange experiences and encourage innovation in mapping out policies to boost women’s participation and integrate their needs. She also revealed that the new edition of the award will take into consideration engaging more sectors and relevant parties concerned with achieving equal opportunities and the advancement of Bahraini women.
Al Ansari presented a detailed account on the award’s indices and criteria and the mechanism of participating in it. She thanked President of the Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company (GPIC) Eng. Abdulrahman Jawaheri for the company’s support to the development efforts of the award to achieve forecast goals.
