RIYADH — Saudi women have received the care and attention of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s wise leadership. The leadership has provided women with the means of empowerment, through packages of historical decisions. As a result, Saudi women have become an active partner in the homeland's rise and its development, achieving qualitative leaps in various fields ranging from science and economy to politics and society development.

The observer of the social, economic and civil reforms march, which started since 2015 and is ongoing till date, can find that actual measures have been taken to enhance women’s position in society in line with their enormous capabilities and willingness to achieve progress and prosperity at various levels. Moreover, Saudi women have traveled honorable distances that commensurate with the society and the contemporary developments.

While widely sharing men in serving the society and the nation, Saudi women are relying on the wise leadership’s confidence in their pivotal and vital role to play a substantive role in the political, economic and social life and in decision-making and monitoring the performance of government agencies in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; and a royal order has been issued to appoint the first Saudi woman as an assistant to the Speaker of the Shoura Council. The order has been issued to support and enhance Saudi women’s participation in the comprehensive development that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is experiencing.

Saudi women, with their thoughts and actions, have succeeded in contributing to the advancement of the march of national development, which made them enter new historical stages in their lives, occupying positions in the fields of human rights, research and security. Politically, they were able to participate and vote in municipal councils elections, and 21 Saudi women became members in the municipal councils.

In addition to the rights that strengthened the status of Saudi women as a basic partner in the development of society, 13 women were appointed in the new Council of the Saudi Human Rights Commission, and law trainees were granted licenses to practice law in Saudi Arabia’s courts, in addition to standardizing the retirement age between men and women in line with the work system and establishing several programs that support women's job stability, such as the Female Transportation Program (Wusool), which aims to increase the percentage of women participation in the labor market and enhance their job stability.

With these changes in the process of empowering Saudi women, laws and rules for their protection were enacted. They were allowed to drive, issuing an anti-harassment law, in addition to facilitating Saudi women extracting documents and renewing them for their family members. An anti-harassment law was also issued.

With the growing presence of women at different levels, the Saudi women’s existence was astonishing in all cultural and creative fields. They played an active role in the commissions of the Ministry of Culture.

As for sports, Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 has transformed the interest in women's sports into an institutional interest. Women's sports received remarkable support, provided by the government and represented by the Ministry of Sports. Saudi women were able to participate in various competitions. The Ministry of Education also has approved a physical education program at girls' schools.

In view of the empowerment of women within Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, its goals have paved the way for Saudi women to contribute to the various aspects of the developmental movement. The programs and initiatives of the vision resulted in declaring Riyadh as the Capital of Arab Women 2020 under the slogan "Woman is Homeland and Ambition", and this declaration comes as an affirmation to the role of the Saudi women and to the continuous support provided to them by the government.

Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 has focused on the full participation of Saudi women at all levels, investing their energies, and providing services that facilitate carrying out their national duties. In this regard, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development has revealed that the Saudi female labor force participation rate amounted to 31.3% in Q3 2020, which reflects the success of the empowerment plans and the high level of awareness of the importance of women's participation in the labor market.

The new laws and regulations related to women stress the importance of their role in supporting the national economy and comprehensive development plans, and contribute to raising Saudi Arabia’s competitiveness regionally and globally, which made Saudi women the focus of the world's attention to talk about, giving them full confidence and they have a high level of responsibility.

Saudi women represent an exceptional success story in their scientific careers and as partners in building the homeland. — SPA