The Supreme Council for Women, in partnership with the United Nations Women, organized a side event to introduce the third edition of Her Royal Highness Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa International Award for Women’s Empowerment, on the sidelines of the Second World Summit for Social Development, which will be held in the Qatari capital, Doha, from November 4 to 6, 2025, in the presence of the First Lady of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Mrs. Asifa Bhutto Zardari, and a number of heads and representatives of national mechanisms concerned with women and family affairs in the GCC countries. The Arab Gulf and other countries around the world. At the beginning of the event, the Secretary-General of the Supreme Council for Women, Professor Lulwah Saleh Al-Awadhi, welcomed the distinguished attendees, briefly reviewing the beginnings of the launch of the Her Royal Highness Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa International Award for Women’s Empowerment, which was adopted by the United Nations Women, and its third edition was announced in March 2025 – on the sidelines of the work of the 69th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women in New York. Al-Awadhi indicated that this award comes at the initiative of Her Royal Highness Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa, wife of the King of the Kingdom of Bahrain and President of the Supreme Council for Women, after its successful implementation at the national level and contributed to the progress of Bahraini women and strengthening their position. It was adopted by the United Nations Women in its global version in the year 2017, and developed in a manner consistent with international standards. This award was allocated to celebrate the distinguished efforts that have made a qualitative impact in the empowerment and advancement of women. And its equal participation in development at the level of countries around the world. The First Lady of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Mrs. Asifa Bhutto Zardari, delivered a speech in which she praised the initiative of Her Royal Highness Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa to launch a specific award dedicated to supporting women’s empowerment programs around the world, noting the importance that such initiatives represent in enhancing the role of women and achieving equality within the framework of equal opportunities. The First Lady of Pakistan said that empowering women is not only limited to achieving justice, but also opens up opportunities to develop societies and achieve sustainable development, reviewing the efforts. Efforts made in the field of women’s empowerment in the Republic of Pakistan. For his part, Dr. Moez Duraid, Regional Director of UN Women for the Arab States and member of the International Jury for the World Award, presented a visual presentation in which he discussed the details of the award since its inception in 2017, and reviewed the criteria and objectives of the award, the target groups, and the role of the international judging committee, whose membership includes an elite group of senior officials, academics, and experts specialized in the fields of work concerned with women’s affairs. Dr. Moez Duraid reviewed the winning projects in the first and second sessions and the entities they represent, and called on all attendees, according to the award categories, to participate and benefit from the advantages offered by the award, which aims to appreciate and highlight distinguished initiatives that support the empowerment of women at the level of countries around the world. Dr. Maimunah Khalil Al Khalil, Secretary-General of the Family Affairs Council in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, participated in a speech in which she praised the initiative of the Kingdom of Bahrain represented by Her Royal Highness Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa’s International Award for Women’s Empowerment. She said that this pioneering award at the global level aims to encourage international efforts to empower women, activate their role, build their capabilities, and enhance their participation in leadership and executive positions at the global level, which proceeded from local to global and was adopted by the United Nations with arbitration at the global level. High levels of recognition by leaders, which created movement and competition among the target groups in the public and private sectors, civil society and individuals, and resulted in highlighting a number of distinguished efforts in various countries of the world. Dr. Al Khalil added that such initiatives generate positive competitiveness that achieves the empowerment of women in several fields and highlights successful experiences that can be benefited from and the exchange of experiences between countries, pointing to the efforts of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in inviting all targeted parties to participate and apply for this award in an effort to highlight the successful experiences in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
