Saudi Ambassador outlines the role of women in its “vision 2030”

The Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Sri Lanka, Khalid Hamoud Alkahtani, has outlined the role of women in the Kingdom’s ‘Vision 2030’ programme.

The Saudi Ambassador highlighted the measures during an interview to mark ‘International Women’s Day’ which is commemorated today, 08th March.

The full interview:

Q/ Could Your Excellency tell us about the role of women in the “Vision 2030”?

Since the era of the founder of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, King Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud – may God have mercy on him – until the era of the Custodian of the two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud – may God preserve him, Saudi women enjoyed many manifestations of empowerment until they became an active partner in the country’s elevation and development, and achieved qualitative successes, where its fields varied scientifically, economically, politically and socially. The Kingdom’s “Vision 2030” enshrines the necessary efforts for women in social and economic development, highlighting them as an influential factor at all levels. An independent strategic goal was specified in the vision to raise women’s competence and increase their participation in the labor market to be part of the developmental movement witnessed by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. From this standpoint, Saudi women’s steps towards empowerment, accelerated through issuance of many decisions, legislation and regulations that enhance their position in society, to become an effective partner in national development in all fields. The Kingdom’s “Vision 2030” included many commitments, goals, and initiatives that combine to promote women’s rights and empower them. It should be noted that one of the goals of the National Transformation Program, which is one of the programs emanating from the Kingdom’s “Vision 2030”, is to increase women’s participation in the labor market, where the economic participation rate of Saudi females has been increased from 17% in 2017 to 35.6% in 2021, in addition to developing support capabilities for women’s work and enabling them to participate in the sports system. Also, women play a considerable role in implementing the Kingdom’s “Vision 2030”.

Q/ Can Your Excellency provide us with a brief overview of the initiative to empower women in the labor market?

There are many initiatives launched by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to empower women, and perhaps the most important of them is the “Women Empowerment” initiative, which was launched as an initiative by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, which aims to increase the qualitative participation rate of women in the public and private sectors and at all job levels through women’s assumption of senior structural leadership positions, invest in their energies and capabilities, expansion of work options before them and increase their participation in order to achieve balance between the both sexes and reduce the quantitative and qualitative gap between men and women, and overcome the obstacles on the way of advancing human, economic and social development.

Q/ What are the measures taken by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to empower women?

Legislation and reforms have passed over the past years to include women more in advancing the development process, due to their important role in contributing effectively through leadership and administrative roles, as the Saudi government was keen to place qualified women in senior positions in several fields. The Royal decree was issued in 2013, allocating 20% of the seats in the Shoura Council for women, in addition to women’s election to the boards of directors of municipalities as well as the appointment of several women to leadership positions in the government sector. Perhaps among the most prominent measures taken by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to ensure the empowerment of women in all fields are as follow:

• Amendment and issuance of many legal frameworks to achieve equality between women and men, most notably the work system, the travel documents system, the civil status system, the social security system, the traffic system, and the personal law system: as a whole, these systems constituted guarantees for empowering women and supporting them in their civil rights.
• Specifying the “Saudi Women Empowerment Initiative” within the framework of the general budget of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
• Creating and developing educational fields that would contribute to empowering Saudi women to obtain modern job opportunities in various fields.
• Establishing a women’s committee in the Family Affairs Council to review policies and build partnerships, initiatives and programs aimed at enhancing the status of women and empowering them socially, economically and knowledgeably.
• The Human Rights Commission has assigned a special committee for women among its committees, concerned with protecting and promoting women’s rights in accordance with international standards in all fields.
• Establishment of Gender Balance Center.

Q/ What are the most prominent features of women’s empowerment in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia?

1. Gender equality

The laws and regulations of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that are derived from Islamic law, endorse the principle of complementary equality between men and women, taking into consideration the characteristics and features of both sexes, in order to achieve justice. The Kingdom has put in place reforms to enhance women’s participation in economic development, including unifying the retirement age for both sexes, preventing gender discrimination in terms of wages, type of job, field and working hours, as well as enabling women to engage in business without obtaining prior approval.

2. Equality in the work environment and wages

To combat discrimination within the work surroundings, the labor law put up a number of equal rights and duties between men and women, such as equal wages in the event of equal value and quality of work, and complete equality in assisting in job seeking, as well as in training programs to obtain work.

Q/ What are the legislations adopted by the Kingdom to protect women from violence?

The Kingdom’s laws criminalize the violence in all its forms, especially violence against women. The Protection from Abuse Law which was issued in September 2013 prohibits and criminalizes abuse in all its forms and manifestations. The designated center for receiving complaints at the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development Complaints receives the complaints of violence. In addition, protection teams have been formed in all regions and governorates to receive complaints. The National Family Safety Program plays a major role in this field, and it is considered as a national program that aims to protect the family from violence by providing prevention and support programs, spreading awareness and building professional partnerships with specialists, governmental and private institutions, and international organizations to provide a safe family environment in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Q/ Could Your Excellency give a clarification on women’s participation in political and public life in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia?

Saudi women have assumed leadership positions in government entities, where Saudi women constitute as a minimum of (20%) of the Shoura Council. Women have assumed the leadership and membership of a number of specialized committees in the Shoura Council. The number of women working in the council is reached to (97) women. The Human Rights Committee has (12) women, with a rate of (50%) in the membership seats of the committee, and women occupy the membership of the Rights Committee in the Shoura Council (one of the specialized committees in the Shoura Council) at a rate of 70%. The following table shows the women’s participation in a number of fields during the year 2022.

Q/ What are the indicators of women’s empowerment in the labor market in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia?

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has made quantum leaps in terms of empowering women and increasing their economic participation in the labor market. The reform efforts and legislation that took place in recent years, according to the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, were reflected in the goals of women’s empowerment, where the rate of Saudi women’s participation in the labor force rose from 32.4% in the second quarter of 2021 to 35.6% in the same quarter of the year 2022, and unemployment rates among Saudi women decreased from 22.3% during the second quarter to 19.3% during the same quarter of the year 2022. The Women and Legal Work report issued by the World Bank confirm the great progress made by the Kingdom in the field of empowering women in many fields, as the Kingdom’s index jumped from 25.63 points in 2019 to 80 points in 2022.