National systems 'must aid' women's causes

Manama: The lack of women-oriented national systems, the absence of financial resources and sufficient expertise hinder the development of women worldwide, Bahrain's First Lady has said.

"The United Nations statistics indicate that women suffer from poverty, lack of education and knowledge, and deteriorating health conditions. They are also the victims of armed conflicts," Shaikha Sabika Bint Ebrahim Al Khalifa said on Tuesday at a United Nations debate in New York, carried by the Bahraini official news agency.

"Solutions to improve the conditions of women should start with alleviating poverty and providing them with access to financial resources so that they can improve their future."

Other challenges that women face today include the absence or weakness of an infrastructure for organised official and civil society work.

"Quite often, women's activities are the result of individual or dispersed efforts and lack the wide-ranging vision required in drawing up clear policies backed by pragmatic plans and realistic programmes," she said at the informal thematic debate on the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women.

Shaikha Sabika suggested countries put forward advanced systems to provide small grants for women to make their first steps towards developing their resources and capabilities.

"They need to be better informed about grants and ways to obtain them. They also need to be given adequate consultancy to develop their fortunes.

"Financial institutions that are able to support this cause should be encouraged to contribute to this important social cause," she said.

Shaikha Sabika, who chairs the official Supreme Council for Women in Bahrain, said government and private institutions should be encouraged to integrate gender aspects in their programmes and action plans to enhance women's capabilities and help them assume their role as decision makers.

The Council in 2005 launched a women's political empowerment programme to advance their political skills and boost their election chances.

Only one woman was elected in the parliamentary and municipal elections last year after she ran unopposed for the 40-member Council of Representatives.