H.E. the Chairman of Tamkeen, H.E. the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism and H.E the Chief Executive of the EDB joined the panel to discuss the role men play in furthering women in the workplace

H.E. Shaikh Mohammed Bin Essa Al Khalifa, chairman of Tamkeen; H.E. Zayed Bin Rashid Al Zayani, Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism and H.E Khalid Alrumaihi the chairman of the EDB joined a panel titled Partners and Allies in the Workplace last September 10, 2018. C5 Nebula organized the panel, which discussed the role of furthering women in the workplace.

Bahrain has made tremendous strides advocating and mainstreaming women and gender concerns into various development processes under the National Strategy for the Advancement of Bahraini Women, alongside the broader guidance of the leadership, as well as the Supreme Council for Women. Government officials are also playing a leading role in this, with more and more women being appointed to the highest levels of office.

“Raising awareness is a key step towards seeing greater women participation in decision-making positions as well as exploring opportunities available for women through the different national support initiatives launched,” said Sh. Mohammed bin Essa.

Khalid Al Rumaihi, Chief Executive, Bahrain EDB said: ‘’This is an incredibly crucial subject – not only is promoting gender equality an important thing to do, but it can also play a vital role in meeting our national economic ambitions. Research from the IMF has found it can have a positive impact across the economy – including in areas such as economic diversification and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). “

Hadyah Fathalla, C5 Executive Director moderated the discussion, stating, “There are some barriers to the economic empowerment of women, which remain a real challenge to inclusive growth. Through our discussion, we hope that we have continued to drive this inclusive agenda, which is at the heart of the continued Bahrain development project. Inclusion must be a two-way conversation and it was important to also hear the thoughts and opinions of men throughout the discussion and engage them in the process of furthering women.

The event also unveiled the official Nebula platform. This followed the successful launch of C5 Nebula in September 2017, coinciding with the first Amazon Web Services (AWS) MENA Summit. C5 Nebula is an initiative driven by C5 Accelerate with the mission of empowering women aspiring to engage and excel in the tech space and raising their awareness, appetite, and aptitude through access to mentorship, connectivity, and technology. The platform is now available for women in all stages of a technology career to sign up to and share their experiences, as well as gain access to mentoring and become part of a growing, global community of female technologists.