Tamkeen marks Bahraini Women's Day

As part of its commitment to support the private sector in the kingdom and provide women with opportunities to find jobs or start their own businesses, Tamkeen today marks Bahraini Women's Day, which is celebrated on 1 December every year. 

In celebrations marking this occasion, Tamkeen will highlight the initiatives, achievements, and economic objectives that Bahraini women realised in 2013, as almost half of the total beneficiaries from Tamkeen's support programmes are women. 

Commenting on this occasion, Tamkeen Chairman and Acting Chief Executive Officer H. E Shaikh Mohammed bin Essa Al Khalifa said: "Representing 35% of the Bahraini workforce, Bahraini women play a key role in the national economy. It is, therefore, necessary to provide women, whether entrepreneurs, business owners, employees, students, or graduates, with the tools that enable them to grow. This is why Tamkeen set up a women empowerment committee to supervise women-focused programmes and developed a women empowerment strategy to serve as a framework for all women support initiatives." 

"Tamkeen's win of Her Royal Highness Princess Sabeeka Award for Women’s Empowerment in 2009 is a testament to the organisation's contribution to the development of women in Bahrain." He added: 

In addition to the programmes it launches for the benefit of the private sector in general, Tamkeen also designed special programmes and initiatives to support women in particular. These include "Riyadat", which was launched on Thursday 28 November in cooperation with the Supreme Council for Women and Bahrain Development Bank as the first business incubator for Bahraini women entrepreneurs. 

Another customised programme is "Tawseel", which Tamkeen offers in cooperation with the Supreme Council for Women and Ibdaa Bank. Under this programme, women are trained and offered low-cost loans to buy vehicles and manage a transportation business. 

In cooperation with the Bahrain Women Union, Tamkeen also offers a fully subsidized computer education and training programme to improve the computer skills of Bahraini women.     

In a number of consultation sessions Tamkeen held with the public to collect views and feedback on its programmes, areas in which women need more support in certain sectors were discussed and identified. The results of those discussions were included in Tamkeen's operational plan for 2014, which will serve as the term of reference for Tamkeen initiatives in 2014.