Bahrain - The Supreme Council for Women (SCW) chaired by the wife of His Majesty the King, Her Highness Shaikha Sabika bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa, celebrates today the completion of five years with many noted achievements to be proud of.

Set up by an Amiri Decree by His Majesty the King, Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, in 2001, the SCW is dedicated to empowerment of Bahraini women. Over the years, it has done a remarkable job including preparation of women for elections and candidacy.

Earlier last year, the Ministry of Justice and the SCW signed a memorandum of understanding in regard to meet the objectives of the national programme aimed at the empowerment of women. As per the accord, both the ministry and the SCW will also make recommendations, suggestions and launch joint projects.

The ministry will work on empowering the women working at the ministry by involving them in educational courses. Both sides will also exchange data, expertise, studies and research.

Needy women approaching the SCW with their grievances are now getting legal aid to defend their cases. The Grievances Unit at the SCW has started cooperating with a number of lawyers as a part of the Council’s plan to empowerment of women in their life.

The move was taken to assist the many women who approached the SCW, but were not able to afford the fees of the defending lawyer. The four lawyers will guide women to overcome their legal problems or defending them at courts, she said.

The SCW had received around 11,000 complaints and requests related to financial needs, housing services and alimony in the past four years, it said around a year ago and started working on fighting discrimination and violence against women and provide the best services to maintain social stability.

It also took up the matter of housing for Bahraini women. As a result, the Ministry of Housing and Works has approved housing services for Bahraini women who do not own property. With this, equal services for the needy male and female citizens will be provided by the concerned authorities.

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