A new voice for women

Empowerment of women is not the sole responsibility of government agencies or a group of select institutions. It needs a collective action and a female network and think tank is supplementing the governmental efforts by helping women find success in various fields.

Afkarech, a non-profit voluntary organisation, was founded by Mariam Alammadi last year with an aim to provide women in the Kingdom opportunities for development.

The approach was multi-fold, which encompassed boosting entrepreneurial skills among women, fostering academic success and career growth while injecting confidence in women about exploring uncharted terrains. Speaking to Tribune, Ms. Alammadi said,

“Afkarech provides a warm, welcoming and safe environment. Our network is to aid members to share experiences and be a resource to women in Bahrain. Often we do not have support systems in our lives and being able to rely on a supportive group of women is invaluable, we all leave meetings and social events extremely upbeat and positive.”

Ms. Alammadi recalled the May event held by the organisation, where many inspiring women who made outstanding contributions to the society was honoured.

“Our Afkarech Women of the Year was Mary Justine Todd, the founder and CEO of Women’s Crisis Care International. We wanted to recognise the efforts of these amazing and strong women who make sacrifices and work diligently to make our society better,” she said.

Afkarech quite often organises workshops as well as interactive sessions to instill knowledge as well as share skills. “We help each other by undertaking workshops and sharing our skills. Each member has a tremendous skill that can be shared with the group and in this way, we learn from each other.