On the occasion of International Women's Day
Asharqia Chamber sheds light on the stages of empowering women in the Kingdom
Asharqia Chamber, represented by the Women's Empowerment Center, organized yesterday, Monday, March 8, 2021, a remote meeting on the occasion of International Women's Day, during which a member of the Shura Council, Dr. Amira bint Ahmed Al-Jaafari, spoke about the stages of empowering Saudi women since the establishment of the state by the founder until the present time. The meeting was moderated by the President of the Executive Council for Businesswomen, Maram bint Saeed Al-Jishi.
Al-Jaafari said that the process of empowering women in the Kingdom was characterized by progression and fluidity and taking into account the social and economic conditions of each historical stage until women in this auspicious era lived through a broad-based period of empowerment that affected all fields. Noting that its real estate investments have reached nearly 170 billion riyals and that it now participates in 20% of the seats in the Shura Council, 50% of the seats in the Council of the Human Rights Commission, and 41% in public positions, in addition to increasing its presence in higher education, including Its rate is 51% and in many economic fields, indicating that the participation rate of Saudi women enrolled in the private sector has increased during the past four years to 130%, and the number of commercial registrations issued to women during the year 2019 has increased to about 65%.
Al-Jaafari emphasized that the empowerment of women in the Kingdom represents a model of constructive empowerment built on solid foundations and rules, as the empowerment of women in the Kingdom came out of concern for, education and empowerment of women in a manner commensurate with the state's historical conditions, by what is decided by the country's constitution, the Holy Qur’an and the Prophet’s Sunnah, and with full belief that women are active partners in building society in line with the Kingdom's internal systems and policies.
Al-Jaafari pointed out that Saudi women went through three successive stages of empowerment, which began with the foundation and preparation stage, which lasted until 1970, during which the empowerment process focused on education in the belief (that there is no empowerment without the education), education is the first stage of construction to reach balanced empowerment, and from then the support phase, which lasted until 2015 and was characterized by the expansion of the opening of universities, as well as the provision of several academic fields for girls, opening the way for them to study abroad, and also assuming many high positions, and finally the strategic planning phase launched by the shrine of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and His Highness the trustworthy Crown Prince. Up to the present time, and embodied in Vision 2030, which made women a strategic focus at the top of its goals, by raising their participation in the labor market from 22% to 30%, raising their participation in public jobs to 42%, providing childcare services at reasonable prices for working women, and encouraging work part-time.
