Fatima Muhammad

Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — Twelve Saudi women have won the Sayidaty award for the year 2017 in recognition of excellence and creativity. They were honored on Sunday night at a gala dinner at Hilton Hotel here. Three female pioneers of 2017 and three supporters of women in Saudi Arabia were among those honored. The award was in different categories which are: administration, education, science and medicine, challenging disability, economy, sport, art and culture and humanitarian and social work. The nominations were done through eight committees consisting of 28 members. Speaking about the nomination process Fahad Al-Harthi, editor-in-chief of Sayidaty magazine, told Saudi Gazette that “to ensure the credibility of nominations Sayidaty asked committees of specialists and academics to make the naminations, and Sayidaty did not interfere in their selections.” The aim of this honor, he said, is to shed light on the creative and distinguished Saudi women. “We have done this before in Riyadh and Dubai, this time we have moved to Jeddah. We have also prepared a list of the top 100 influential Saudi women as part of recognizing their excellence.” Majeda Abu Ras, who won in the administration category, said that it is a valuable award as it sheds light on Saudi women locally. “We got awards from abroad but this is more valuable because it is a local recognition.” Abu Ras, who is an assistant professor of sciences in King Abdulaziz University, has been chosen by the UN environmental program in 2017 as the first Arab female personality expert in global environmental predictions. She has been pushing for the need to include environmental education as part of the curriculum and has started a national environment protection and sustainable development program. “It is popular to require a lot from governments and little from individuals this is wrong for individuals are also required to preserve the environment and save resources. To make sure this is achieved the public needs to get the required environment awareness and later fines must be specified for any violation.” Malak Al-Nori, a winner in the education category noted that she is “honored” to be nominated and win this award. She added, “I do not know another award that considers women. We got exposed to powerful women who contributed to their fields in many ways, this gathering shows us how to work together towards a more wonderful Saudi Arabia.” Al-Nori is now the Kingdom’s ambassador to empower and educate women in the energy sector. She is the dean of higher education and scientific research at Effat University. She said that women are required to participate effectively in the economy and similarly there is more focus on diversification of energy resources. “We have provided an energy engineering master program for females. This is the first time women can get a master in this field, previously there was no other way except to travel abroad.” One of the winners in the science and medicine category is Khawla Al-Kree, who is also a Shoura member and works for the Research Center of the King Faisal Specialty Hospital in Riyadh. Al-Kree is the first woman to receive the King Abdul Aziz Order of the first degree and Harvard Award for scientific excellence. Speaking to Saudi Gazette she said, “The prize means a lot to Saudi women who are being recognized.” She called on Saudi women to “keep going ... the future is bright”. According to her the key to Saudi women’s current and future success is what she called “our magical mixture of conservatism, dedication and commitment.” In her field she noted that they are following up and contributing to cancer research and are looking forward to young Saudis to contribute more to the health sector in general. Women awarded also include: Noha Alyousif, chairperson of the board of directors for Ithraa consultancy group, Sulafa Batirji executive president of Doroob Waqf Company, Hind Alfahhad, a film director, Malak Althaqafi, a consultant for molecular nervous diseases at King Abdul Aziz Medical City, Lolwa Abdullah first woman anchor with visual disability, Rania Nashar, CEO of Samba financial group, Reem Assad, investment analyst, Amal Al-Ma’alami, assistant secretary general for women’s affairs in King Saud Center for National Dialogue, and Princess Reema bint Bander, president for development and planning (women’s affairs) at the general sports authority. The three female pioneers of 2017 are: Abeer Al-Obaidi, first Saudi women to get a Ph.D. in the study of legal sciences, Maram Kokandi, first Saudi female to become a general manager in KSA hospitality industry and Shatha Abu Ouf, known for her research in restructuring obesity treatment. The three women supports are: Misk charitable society a non-profit organization that encourages education, developing leadership skills to a better future for Saudi Arabia, Khaled Al-Khudair CEO of Glowork a commercial entity that empowers women to enter the Saudi workforce and Mohammad Abdulatif Jameel chairman of the board and president of Abdul Latif Jameel Group, founder of Bab Rizeq Jameel a facility dedicated to social entrepreneurship.