Foundation of a just, progressive society

Our society is shaped by important responses that we make to the everyday needs of our families and groups with vulnerabilities. By recognizing the need to protect and nurture family units and children and by implementing better workplace conditions and enhanced salary for the special skillsets of those who work with the disabled, we are taking important steps towards a better world.

Last week it was reported that legislators are looking at just that – there are discussions to extend maternity leave from the present two months of paid leave to additional longer leave under defined conditions. As it is, current maternity laws in Bahrain allow mothers up to two months of paid maternity leave and then two hours of nursing time off until the child is two years old. Mothers can also take upto two years of unpaid childcare leave up to three times in the course of their career with a firm.

It is but natural that employers are worried that any more leave on these grounds will hit productivity. But look at it this way – we have placed respect for women’s role in the family unit as central to Bahraini society (and that includes expat families too); Bahrain boasts a 57.4% female workforce. It is only correct that we honour the promise to the majority of our workforce and the responsibility we have entrusted them with.

The other heartening proposal was that trained workers who deal with children with special needs will soon get pay increase commensurate with the work that they are doing. This recognizes their unique skillsets and the need for their expertise to integrate children with these requirements into society as equal contributing partners in progress.

While these are proposals before the legislators, I fervently wish that they shall be translated into reality. They are foundational to the expansion of scope for a just and dedicated society.

(Captain Mahmood Al Mahmood is the Editor-in-Chief of The Daily Tribune and the President of the Arab-African Unity Organisation for Relief, Human Rights and Counterterrorism)