Article by- Suad Hamada (Women Gateway)

Bahrain is moving towards integrating women in the transportation sector through a project to be launched soon.
The state-run Supreme Council (SCW) for Women in cooperation with the Labour Fund announced on Tuesday the registration for a transportation project to support and train female jobseekers to empower them to establish small transportation businesses.

The SCW is dedicated to fight for better rights for women, while the fund is a government organisation that allocated fees taken on foreign workers to enhance the skills of local manpower.

According to a statement by the SCW, the project is part of the Economic Empowerment of Women that focuses on train and guide females to run their own businesses. The project is part of a plan to create new job opportunities for women.

The statement highlighted that the Traffic Department and a women society would be associated in the project. It target Bahraini females of the age group from 23 to 40 and should have at least high school certificate and driving licence with minimum 5 years experience. Beneficiaries should be unemployed and have the capability and desire to run their own business.
Economic Researcher Abdulhameed Abdulghfar welcomed the project and said that it could help many women who are already in the business.
“Many low-skilled housewives or unemployed women are working by delivering students to their schools, because such job doesn’t take women away from responsibilities towards their families, so the project could help polish their business qualifications,” he said while highlighting that the project’s financial assistance could be allocated to maintain the vehicles or buy new ones as well as design marketing campaigns.

The project was also hailed by Layla Sharida who has been transporting children to their schools for more than ten years. Layla or Um Nasser as she prefers to be called is one of the first ladies working in this profession in Muharraq.
"Some people are asking me to quit my job, but I cannot as such thought make me feel powerless waiting for death to come and take me," she said.

Layla is hoping to be included in the project through her daughter who is meeting the criteria, so she could buy new van. Besides her driving duties, Um Nasser is a busy grandmother and devoted wife for her ill-husband.
"I love my family as it means life to me and my children's support and understanding are what making me happy, but my work makes me less dependent on them," she said.

Um Nasser used to earn BD200 monthly, but she gets much less now because more ladies have joined the business.
Um Nasser said this was an ideal job for women who were not highly educated and also who had to manage the responsibilities of home and children.

"Although I have to leave early in the morning to pick up the children from their houses, I am back home in about two hours, which gives me enough time to do household work before going back to pick the children," she said.
Um Nasser makes sure to not overload her car with children to ensure their safety. She said that children need to be watched continually, so she doesn't take more than five children in each trip.