Workshops on Political Empowerment of Women

On 4-8 October 2009, the Supreme Council for Women organized a series of workshops on ‘the Political Empowerment of Bahraini Women’. The workshops were organized within the context of preparations for the next local and parliamentary elections, and in an attempt to help women win parliamentary seats. The workshops served as a practical application of the study entitled: (Bahraini Women in 2006Elections - Opportunities and Challenges) conducted by the Supreme Council for Women in cooperation with UNDP (see Bahrain Monitor, issue 9, October 2009). During the workshops, many issues were discussed including general reading of Bahrain’s elections literature; how can the candidate deal with the media; community-based communication tools; public awareness and organizing campaigns; creating informal networks and collective decision-making. Lecturers in the workshops were diverse and a number of them were from Arab countries such as Kuwait and Egypt.