Bahrain Bourse (BHB), a Licensed Exchange by the Central Bank of Bahrain, announced its strategic partnership with the Diversity on Board Program (DOB) to promote their signature Emerging Board Leaders Fellowship (EBLF) program.
The announcement came following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Bahrain Bourse and Diversity on Board, a regional platform that helps organizations identify and appoint women to executive and advisory board positions. The collaboration aims to establish a collaborative framework towards promoting board diversity within the MENA region to enhance the economic competitiveness, corporate governance, and foster a more inclusive society through educating, grooming and nurturing a healthy pipeline of highly qualified talent who are mentored to be ‘board-ready’.
According to the MoU, the Bahrain Bourse will also support the EBLF program and the Fellows through workshops and will provide insights, trends and recent updates on the expectation of Boards within listed companies. BHB will collaborate with their key stakeholders across the region to facilitate sessions for the Fellows of DOB’s annual Emerging Board Leaders Fellowship to join organizations like HSBC who are a key sponsor and partner to the EBLF; and KPMG in Bahrain who support the program as a Knowledge Partner.
In addition, Bahrain Bourse will facilitate strategic collaborations between Diversity on Board and the Middle East Investor Relations Association (MEIRA), involving MEIRA in the planning and delivery of key learning sessions relevant for the cohort of Fellows on the DOB’s annual Emerging Board Leaders Fellowship.
Shaikh Khalifa bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa, CEO of Bahrain Bourse, commented: “We are pleased to collaborate with Diversity on Board to promote sustainability and diversity in advisory and executive board positions across listed companies through the Emerging Board Leaders Fellowship Program. As a key capital market player, we believe that we can play a pivotal role in encouraging board diversity in Bahrain’s capital market through supporting leadership programs, and this collaboration comes in line with Bahrain Bourse’s efforts to promote sustainability and its deployment of various initiatives to encourage the adoption of Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) among stakeholders. The partnership supports the Bahrain Bourse to achieve our ambition to be a regional leaders in driving sustainability, ESG and more specifically Inclusion and Diversity.”
Tarik Al Olaimy, Co-Founder of Diversity on Board, commented: “Our partnership with Bahrain Bourse is a milestone achievement for Diversity on Board, marking a significant step forward in our mission to enhance board diversity and sustainability leadership across the MENA region. BHB’s endorsement of the UN Women Empowerment Principles and commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchanges initiative exemplifies their dedication to promoting sustainability and gender equality. Their leadership in these areas, coupled with our collaborative efforts, will undoubtedly foster a more inclusive and future-ready corporate board landscape, as well as support the exceptional regional leaders who are taking part in the Emerging Board Leaders Fellowship (EBLF) program.”
It is worth noting that Bahrain Bourse announced its commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchanges (SSE) initiative in 2019 to further promote sustainable and transparent capital markets, as part of its sustainability journey. Bahrain Bourse’s endorsement of the UN WEP is aimed to further strengthen its sustainability journey and roadmap on topics in relation to gender equality. During March 2023, BHB announced its endorsement of the UN Women Empowerment Principles (WEP) alongside 7,000 other global signatories, who have voluntarily expressed their commitment towards promoting the advancement of Gender Equality and Equity within the workplace and marketplace. The UN WEP initiative focuses on seven core principles which provide corporates with guidelines on delivering gender equality in alignment with the UN SDG goals.
Source: Bahrain News Agency