RIYADH — The Conference of Women Empowerment and Their Development Role in the Reign of King Salman, organized by the Imam Mohammad bin Saud Islamic University (IMSIU) over two days, yielded 11 recommendations to support, empower and stimulate the participation of national women forces in various current courses of the economic development.

IMSIU Rector Dr. Ahmad bin Salem Al-Ameri, during the closing session, noted that the conference and participants highly appreciated the achievements realized in women empowerment in the reign of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman, including developing laws and regulations that empower women, such as judicial bylaws, regulations and circular, the labor bylaw, judicial decisions that enhanced women rights, and the policies that enhance the women development role.

He referred to the increase in the percentage of employing women in various fields, such as the diplomatic, judicial, military and energy sectors, which played a role in realizing targets of the Saudi Vision 2030 in less than half of the period, increasing women participation in economic development, and increasing the percentage of women empowerment in leading posts in the public and private sectors, which all contributed to classifying the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as the most developed and reformed country among 190 countries in the 2020 Women, Business and the Law Report issued by the World Bank Group.

The recommendations included modernizing the social discourse that enhances women's status in media and cultural programs and improving the unreal stereotypical image of the Saudi woman through calling international media institutions to check on Saudi women empowerment indicators from credible resources.

The recommendations also highlighted the importance of rehabilitating and investing in the national women competencies to participate in international events in order to change the stereotypical image of the Saudi woman, raising the media awareness and increasing social programs that contribute to preserving indigenous values and heritage of the Saudi women, which enhance moderation according to the teachings of the Islamic Shariah.

They also included establishing a media platform showcasing updated information and statistics on the Saudi achievements in whatever is related to women and publishing them in several languages and utilizing digital media to promote the pivotal role of the Saudi woman in the comprehensive development process.

The recommendations also stressed the importance of developing women's academic leadership in a way that realizes efficiency and sustainability and launching educational programs for Saudi women in higher education institutions to meet the needs of the future labor market.

They also urged media colleges and departments in Saudi universities to develop qualitative programs to rehabilitate distinguished women competencies to highlight the true image of the Saudi women, improve the empowering system for women in the field of establishing small and medium enterprises and entrepreneurial businesses, in addition to conducting more specialized research on women empowerment and enhancing their development role. — SPA