Saudi women are the core of society and important partners in the development process

Saudi women are steadily moving forward, driving the wheels of national development along with the entire nation, and are protected by all rights and by legislation that allows them to play an active role in the process of construction and women’s empowerment and development. In his annual address to the Consultative Assembly, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, said participation has become a priority in the Kingdom’s government policy. : “We will continue our efforts to empower Saudi women and increase their participation rate in both the public and private sectors.”

The share of Saudi women in the civil service and the labor market has expanded and built on a solid foundation of academic and professional qualifications in various professions, which reinforces the goal of Saudi Vision 2030 to increase their share to advance their efforts in various fields. The World Bank’s report “Women, Business and the Law” shows that the Kingdom’s index in the field of women’s empowerment rose to 80 points in 2022, compared to 25.63 points in 2019.

National efforts to empower women are based on a belief in the participatory role of women in the development process. The Kingdom is witnessing a vibrant society, a prosperous economy and an ambitious state, which will fully reflect its visionary efforts to achieve international sustainable development goals through the Kingdom’s international presence and coordination, including the establishment of the Council for Family Affairs in 2016, which is responsible for representing social groups, including women, in international organizations and institutions, in addition to proposing regulations and implementing recommendations and agreements approved by the Kingdom in international organizations, and uniting the efforts of all government departments on family issues.

Since the announcement of Saudi Vision 2030 on April 25, 2016, the Kingdom has made several achievements in the field of women’s empowerment policy, with the inclusion of women’s empowerment initiatives in the general budget as a comprehensive approach to promoting women’s access to available resources, enabling them to participate and contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in accordance with the Kingdom’s values ​​and principles.

In line with the goals of the National Transformation Program, Saudi women’s economic participation in the labor market exceeded the target rate of 35.6% in the second quarter of 2022, from a baseline of 17% in 2017, and reached the target rate of 31.4% by 2025 AD.

The paths taken by the government departments to empower women are parallel and complementary. To this end, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development has launched a series of initiatives and programs, including: stimulating and supporting balance in the labor market, training programs, leadership mentoring for women cadres, and parallel training initiatives.

The Ministry’s initiatives have added work management methods, such as: encouraging remote work, flexible work and self-employment, and launching the National Platform for Saudi Women Leaders, while the Human Resources Development Fund “Hadaf” has assigned support and preparation tasks to Saudi women leaders. Women, such as: employment support programs, and “Hadaf” Qurra, which supports working mothers by taking care of their children during working hours, and the “Wool” program, which makes it easier for working women to commute to get off work, and other programs.

In turn, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology sought to provide more career opportunities for Saudi women, including leadership positions, and developed training programs that resulted in a female participation rate of 30.49%, while future initiatives in multiple modern, traditional and emerging technology fields helped 30,232 trainees qualify and 15,311 women were hired.

The ministry has launched several programs aimed at increasing the number of female leaders. It includes the “Women Leaders in the Digital World” program, the “Women Technology Leaders Award”, and stimulating innovative ideas through the “Technology Pioneer Program”, targeting innovative entrepreneurs, and about 1,806 ideas in the second session came from female entrepreneurs, accounting for 40% of the participants.

The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology launched an initiative titled “Digital Endowment” to eliminate digital literacy and spread digital awareness among members of society, of which 194,110 are women, and held several events highlighting women empowerment, including: “Empowering Excellence” conference highlighting the most important inspiring female figures.

In the judiciary, the Ministry of Justice has empowered women and increased their participation in the workforce, adding approximately 3,538 female employees and increasing the percentage of Saudi female lawyers by licensing 2,136 female lawyers, in addition to arranging training programs for female lawyers, where 3,165 trainees received training. The Ministry also enabled women to register in the “Reconciliation Centers”.

There are many work locations and various specialties and job levels to suit the requirements of the highly qualified daughter of the nation and enable her to assume leadership positions, including the Deputy Minister of Commerce, His Excellency Dr. Iman bint Habas Al-Mutairi, the Ministry of Commerce and the Small and Medium Enterprises Authority “Monsha’at” strengthens the technical flexibility of women entrepreneurs in business activities and benefit procedures, including the issuance of business records, the practice of freelance work, etc.

“Monsha’at” actively spreads the culture of female entrepreneurship, bringing the number of beneficiaries to 2,769,734 people, and the proportion of female-owned enterprises reached 45% compared to 2022.

To achieve this ambitious vision, the proportion of women in the Ministry of Education has increased, and they hold academic, administrative and leadership positions in general and university education, and scholarship, training and development programs have been adopted. , including: initiatives in the field of research, innovation and development for academic women, which has led to a 91% increase in classified scientific publications in the last three years, in addition to an increase in citations in scientific literature, with the proportion of papers by female researchers reaching 52%.

In the area of ​​youth and sports, the Ministry of Sports has increased the level of women’s participation in various sports, formed 25 women’s teams for the first time to participate in various competitions, and launched women’s championships and hosted international competitions in several events.

In terms of health, the Ministry of Health supports women through care and empowerment at work and also focuses on their health by establishing specialized clinics for women’s and children’s health to provide all educational, preventive and curative services.

The achievements in the empowerment and advancement of women in society are not limited to these entities, but extend to all military, medical, social, cultural, development and service institutions, which participate with their ideas and efforts in building the development wheel.