The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) established an Opportunities Equity Committee to enhance and integrate women’s needs within CBB’s strategies and policies, consisting of representatives from various divisions of the CBB, with the aim of developing a framework for gender balance policies, contributing to the governance of equal opportunities and enhancing women representation in the financial sector.

Governor of the Central Bank of Bahrain Mr. Rasheed Mohammed Al Maraj said: “The establishment of this committee comes as part of CBB’s role in supporting national efforts in monitoring the implementation gender balance policies, in a way that directly contributes to increasing women’s contribution to the national economy, especially in the banking and finance sector.”

The Governor affirmed that this initiative comes in response to the focused and sustainable efforts made by the Supreme Council for Women, led by Her Royal Highness Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa, Wife of His Majesty the King, to provide the structure needed to integrate women’s needs across all work streams, achieve the goals of the national plan for the advancement of Bahraini women and reduce the gap between women and men in terms of public participation, through its effective partnerships with all government entities.

The Supreme Council for Women welcomed this initiative, whose timing coincides with the Kingdom’s celebrations of Bahraini Women’s Day. Secretary General of the Supreme Council for Women, Hala Al Ansari, praised the establishment of the committee resulting from the joint cooperation between the Council and the CBB. This will result in a great impact on the level of the CBB’s contributions towards activating the national model for gender balance and enhancing women’s presence in the financial sector, and implementing the required comprehensive framework to achieve the same and increasing the sector’s contributions to the national GDP.