DAVOS, SWITZERLAND - The Bahrain Labour Fund, known as Tamkeen, has joined forces with the World Economic Forum (WEF) to introduce the Bahrain Skills and Gender Parity Accelerator. This initiative was unveiled in Davos, aligning with the 55th Annual Meeting’s theme, "Collaboration for the Intelligent Age." The program aims to close the gender skills gap within high-growth industries and enhance the participation of Bahraini workers in the current and future local workforce.
Bahrain is building a workforce prepared for the future, emphasizing education in digital and STEM skills, and reskilling to address the global talent gap. Recognized as a regional leader in gender parity and wage equality, Bahrain ranks in the top five globally for girls outperforming boys in education, as per the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2024 and the World Bank.
Sriram Gutta of the WEF highlighted the success of the initiative’s first cycle, which mobilized over $2.5 million in funding and trained more than 54,500 individuals. The second cycle will focus on increasing gender parity in high-growth sectors and future job roles. Bahrain’s accelerator is part of a network of over 35 Accelerators worldwide, promoting transformative local initiatives.
The Labour Fund (Tamkeen) has been instrumental in Bahrain’s progress, offering government-backed training and programs aimed at closing gender gaps in male-dominated industries. Established in 2024, Skills Bahrain is an initiative by Tamkeen to maximize the country’s human capital, working with various stakeholders to provide market intelligence and identify skills gaps.
The accelerator will be coordinated by Skills Bahrain and led by the Bahrain Economic Development Board and Tamkeen, with plans to partner with leading private sector entities. The next phase will involve gathering insights from these organizations and leveraging the Forum’s global research to conduct a cross-sectoral analysis to pinpoint current and future gender skills gaps, laying the foundation for a talent development strategy.
Bahrain’s strategic investments in female empowerment and the upskilling of its young, bilingual workforce have led to the country being ranked 4th globally for Women in Managerial Positions and Women with Degrees, according to the Institute for Management Development (IMD) World Competitiveness Ranking 2024. The nation’s workforce diversity and status as a leading service hub have attracted major companies like AWS and Citi, with the latter establishing its Global Technology Hub in Bahrain in 2021.
This news is based on a press release statement.
This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.