Women diplomats have shown greater interest than their male counterparts in boosting their aptitudes through training programs, the Executive Director of the Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa Academy for Diplomatic Studies has said.
“We have noted that the percentage of women employees in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or in the diplomatic missions who register in the training programs offered by the Academy is higher than that of male employees,” Dr. Shaikha Muneera bint Khalifa bin Hamad Al Khalifa said.
“This is evidence of the increasing interest of women diplomats in education and continuous training, and it augurs well for outcomes that we will see in the future about the increasing presence of women in diplomacy,” she said during a Bahrain Television program dedicated to celebrating Bahraini Women’s Day held this year under the theme of women in diplomacy.
The theme selected by the Supreme Council for Women, the official entity dedicated to elevating the status of women in Bahrain and to empowering them politically, socially and economically, reinforces the responsibility of the Academy in supporting the qualitative progress of Bahraini women in diplomacy, Shaikha Muneera added.
It also strengthens the drive by the Academy to develop its strategy, plans and training programs to take more into account the needs of women in diplomacy and to increase their ability to represent Bahrain abroad outstandingly.
“The support of Her Royal Highness Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa, President of the Supreme Council for Women, to Bahraini women is very important on a personal and professional level, as it is both an honor and a responsibility,” Shaikha Muneera said.
“The specific programs and initiatives launched by the Supreme Council for Women motivate us to keep pace with them and to exert greater efforts to ensure women hold the highest diplomatic positions.”
Women make up 51% of the personnel at the Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa Academy for Diplomatic Studies, and the Academy plans to increase this percentage in line with the quantitative and qualitative presence and gains of Bahraini women in various other vital fields, she added.
Shaikha Muneera was appointed in 2016 as director of the Diplomatic Institute and oversaw its transition into the Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa Academy for Diplomatic Studies in 2019.
She holds an MPhil and a DPhil (PhD) in International Relations and Oriental Studies from the University of Oxford, in which she was the first Bahraini to receive the Clarendon Scholarship.
Her research focused on international norms, national identity, and nation building.
