The 2nd Women and Leadership conference will take place on January 17th, 2010 in Bahrain. BNP Paribas, present across five Gulf countries (Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia), organizes this event in partnership with United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) for the second consecutive year.

This conference is aimed at recognizing the crucial role that leading women play in the region, showing the importance of diversity and equality of treatment between women and men within the workplace, and also discussing challenges and recommended solutions of women empowerment in the Gulf countries. This regional initiative reflects the worldwide commitment of the bank.

This year, the conference will include four strategic workshops (Finance, Education, Politics and Business). These workshops, to be attended and moderated by influential individuals from different sectors, will seek to generate an action plan to further develop each field.

Last year, the conference attracted more than 200 participants from many sectors, including high profile government, non-government and private sector, media representatives, students, all with the objective of raising awareness on the topic.

Please watch below some testimonies collected during the first edition.