level gathering of the Women's Advisory Panel of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), the multilateral development financing institution for the Muslim world, was inaugurated on Saturday in Bahrain to address the ever important role of women in the socio-economic development of Muslim member countries of the bank. “The Fourth Meeting of the IDB Women's Advisory Panel” was opened by Shaikh Ahmed Bin Mohammed Al-Khalifa, minister of finance of the Kingdom of Bahrain and chairman of the board of governors of the IDB. Over the course of the two-day event, a number of key topics will be addressed, including plans and strategies for empowering women, progress on current projects of the IDB's Advisory Panel, and the experience of member states - including a presentation from the Bahrain Council of Women on the Kingdom's successes to date. Importantly, the meeting will also focus on new IDB initiatives aimed at enhancing the position of women in the Muslim world. Key among these is the Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development (ISFD), a $10 billion fund whose objectives are linked directly to supporting the achievement of the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals and whose efforts will focus on combating poverty and spurring economic development in the poorest Muslim member nations. Among the core objectives of the ISFD is supporting women's development. It is widely accepted that women in the Muslim world - and beyond - are among the groups most affected by poverty. This phenomenon lowers the productivity of labour and the efficiency of labour allocations in households and the economy, intensifying the unequal distribution of resources. Poverty amongst women also contributes to the non-monetary aspects of poverty - lack of security, opportunity and empowerment - which lower the quality of life for both men and women alike. Commenting on the event, President of the Islamic Development Bank, Dr. Ahmad Mohamed Ali, said: “The IDB and its member countries are committed to supporting development across the Islamic world and believe that women have a critical role to play. Having established the Women's Advisory Panel in 2004, we are now working in a systematic way to ensure that women's participation and status in society and in supporting efforts to achieve socio-economic development and poverty reduction in our Muslim countries is enhanced. The advisory panel and the bank itself have a number of important initiatives that pay particular attention to the role of women and key among these is the Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development, which aims to reduce poverty among the poorest Islamic nations and in particular seeks to address the needs of the poorest of poor, which often include women and children.” The event brings together members of the twelve-person panel, who hail from the IDB's member states and come from a variety of academic disciplines, have diverse professional backgrounds, and enjoy broad experience with development at the national and international levels as well as with both civil society and government. __
