Al-Nahda’s forward-looking female activists

Anyone writing the history of Saudi women has to dedicate a large part of that history to the achievements of the Al-Nahda Philanthropic Society for Women.

March 12, 2015

Samar Al-Miqrin



Samar Al-Miqrin

Al-Jazirah






Anyone writing the history of Saudi women has to dedicate a large part of that history to the achievements of the Al-Nahda Philanthropic Society for Women, which was established in 1962, the year when girls were allowed to go to school.



The activists who founded this organization have dedicated themselves to women’s empowerment. They are still at the helm and work hard to achieve their set goals.



What is amazing about Al-Nahda is the fact that it evolves and adapts itself according to changing social and economic variables. Many people do not know a lot about the society, even though it is responsible for many important initiatives in various fields. For example, Al-Nahda has classes for Down syndrome children. It also founded a women’s refuge for victims of domestic violence in the 1990s, a time when only a few cases of this sort were given media coverage.



Al-Nahda activists realized the enormity of the problem at the outset and built a refuge for battered women. The center no longer exists because it has been replaced by other women’s shelters.



At present, the society offers various new programs that need our support. This includes educating children and mothers, especially children under 15. Al-Nahda runs one particular program aimed at helping children develop their skills in preparation for school. There are not many state-run kindergartens and some families cannot afford to send their children to private kindergartens. This is how the idea started. The objective is to allow a mother to send her child to a kindergarten if she is unable to afford sending him or her to a private one.



In my opinion, pre-school education should be made obligatory because this is a critical stage when a child’s skills are being developed.



This is only one of several programs Al-Nahda has introduced to empower women and help them to be independent. This reminds me of Confucius’ famous saying: “Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime.” Al-Nahda’s philosophy is based on this saying.


March 12, 2015
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