The United Nations Committee on the Status of Women unanimously chose Saudi Arabia to chair the sixty-ninth session of the Committee during the current year. The Committee on the Status of Women emanates from the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations and aims to improve the status of women.
It meets annually to evaluate the progress made in this field and sets standards and policies in order to enhance the status of women around the world.
The Saudi ambassador to the UN, Abdulaziz Alwasil, is the first permanent representative of Saudi Arabia to head this committee since its establishment in 1946.
Saudi Arabia’s chairmanship of the committee comes as an affirmation of its interest in cooperation within the framework of the international community in everything that would enhance women’s rights and empowerment. It is also in line with the qualitative achievements that the Kingdom has achieved in this field.
Saudi women have received remarkable attention. They have been empowered to become an active partner, achieving qualitative successes in many fields. The Kingdom’s Vision 2030 also included priorities and targets that focused on women’s full participation at all levels.
Saudi Arabia has unveiled an ambitious international philanthropic initiative aimed at boosting the participation of Saudi women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).
The new initiative seeks to dismantle the barriers that have traditionally held Saudi women back from pursuing careers in STEM.
Key components include scholarship programs for study at top international universities, mentorship schemes pairing young women with experienced professionals in their field. It also offers investments in women-led STEM startups.
KSA also held the first phase of the “Najran Technician Initiative”. This initiative, supported by Road Flower Company, aimed to equip women with skills for the labor market. It focused on ‘abaya’ design and flower arrangement fields.
The Deputy Minister of Tourism Haifa bint Mohammed bin Saud bin Khalid, noted that 45% of the employees in the tourism sector are women.
Also, the National Gas and Industrialization Company (GASCO) signed an agreement with the Arab Institute for Women’s Empowerment (Nusf) on empowering Saudi women and training them for leadership and executive positions in the company in 2024.
Saudi Arabia established the Women’s Committee in the Family Affairs Council. It is responsible for reviewing policies, building partnerships and launching initiatives aimed at enhancing women’s status and empowering them socially and economically.
Moreover, the Kingdom established Gender Balance Center in KSA to provide initiatives and projects contributing to bridging the gender gap.
In a bid to create the best environment that enables working women to thrive, KSA launched many programs including the “Qurrah” program for supporting childcare services. It also created “Wusool” program for supporting women’s transportation. Additionally, programs like “Part-Time Work” and “Remote Work” enable women to balance work and family.
Violence against women and girls is strictly criminalized in KSA. The “Protection from Abuse” law, issued in September 2013, prohibits and criminalizes various forms of abuse.
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