Manama: The Supreme Council for Women (SCW), in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance and National Economy, organised an awareness workshop on gender-responsive budgeting. The event saw the participation of government budget specialists and representatives of Equal Opportunities Committees.
According to Bahrain News Agency, the workshop was part of ongoing efforts to integrate women's needs into government policies, plans, and programmes while reinforcing equal opportunities across development sectors. The session commenced with remarks from Rana Ahmed Khalifa, Strategic Planning Adviser at the SCW, who emphasized the importance of the workshop as a continuation of outcomes from a February 2026 meeting between the SCW General Secretariat, the Civil Service Bureau, and chairpersons of Equal Opportunities Committees from various ministries and government entities.
Khalifa highlighted the significance of enhancing awareness regarding the responsibilities of the committees, particularly in monitoring the implementation of gender-responsive budgeting across government institutions. The workshop included presentations by Mohammed Ahmed Dawood, Projects Head at the Budget Directorate of the Ministry of Finance and National Economy, and Noura Khalid Mahna, Head of the Ministry's Implementation Follow-up Group, who discussed key concepts of gender-responsive budgeting and its integration into the state budget cycle.
The agenda covered Bahrain's legislative framework for public finances, the stages of preparing and implementing the state budget, and gender-responsive budgeting templates and mechanisms. These themes aimed to enhance financial planning efficiency and optimise resource use.
The workshop aligns with the Supreme Council for Women's efforts to support equal opportunities and integrate women's needs into government policies and programmes, reflecting Bahrain's sustainable and inclusive development goals.