A walk through history

Bahraini women’s participation in the nation-building process began as early as the third decade of the twentieth century. The leadership of the Kingdom granted right for Bahraini women to vote in municipal elections as early as the 1930s, which was then unthinkable for women or even some Western countries. Bahraini women also actively participated in the municipal elections of 1951.

In the early seventies, Bahraini women voted in a referendum held to affirm the Kingdom’s Arab identity. Representatives of Children and Mother Welfare Society and Al Nadha Women’s Society also met the special envoy of UN Secretary-General in this regard. With His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa’s accession to the throne in 1999 and the first formation of the Shura Council under His Majesty’s rule in 2000, four women were appointed to the Shura Council for the first time.

Bahraini women also had a prominent and active presence in the Committee for the Preparation of the National Action Charter, which consisted of 46 women members.