Bahrain’s Women’s Empowerment Efforts Earn Recognition

Bahrain has made a major leap in the 2025 Global Gender Gap Report released by the World Economic Forum, climbing 12 spots to rank 104th out of 148 countries. The Kingdom’s score jumped from 66.6% in 2024 to 68.4% this year, a clear reflection of its ongoing national efforts to empower women and close the gender gap.

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The Supreme Council for Women (SCW) celebrated the milestone, calling it a strong international recognition of Bahrain’s steady progress. According to Lulwa Saleh Al Awadhi, Secretary General of the SCW, Bahrain now holds the second-highest rank among Gulf and Arab countries in the index, just behind the UAE.

High Scores for Economic Participation and Women Ministers

Bahrain topped the Gulf in key areas like economic participation, income equality, and percentage of women ministers, the latter standing at 21.7%. Al Awadhi said these numbers show the success of national strategies designed to increase women’s access to leadership roles and equal opportunities in the workforce.

She credited this progress to the National Gender Balance Model and aligned initiatives like the National Plan for the Advancement of Bahraini Women 2025–2026, which are anchored in Bahrain’s Economic Vision 2030.

Perfect Score on Women’s Pay and Pensions

Further boosting Bahrain’s reputation is its performance in the Women, Business and the Law 2024 (WBL 2024) report by the World Bank. The report evaluates 190 economies on laws affecting women’s economic empowerment and Bahrain scored a perfect 100 out of 100 in indicators related to women’s pay and pensions.

Bahrain also saw a 30.6% increase in its overall WBL 2.0 index score compared to 2018, with major improvements in:

• Pay: 100% score
• Workplace and pensions: 50% rise
• Marriage rights: 20% increase
• Entrepreneurship: 25% increase

Global Recognition for Gender Equality Efforts

These developments underscore Bahrain’s commitment to UN Sustainable Development Goal 5: Gender Equality, as the Kingdom gains recognition as one of the MENA region’s top performers in supporting women’s economic inclusion.

Backed by the vision of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and the leadership of Her Royal Highness Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa, Bahrain is continuing to build a more inclusive and equitable future for women.