Empowering women key to future prosperity
Thursday, March 29, 2007
AT A recent forum looking at the role of Saudi women in the year 2020, the discussions were candid, the potential was exciting and the reality often disturbing. The event was organised by the Khadija binte Khuwailid Centre for Businesswomen at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI), and it was clear that women have an important role to play in the future of Saudi Arabia.
In her keynote address, Princess Adelah binte Abdullah ibni Abdul Aziz stressed the importance of women's empowerment and cautioned that the country will never develop without using all the talents and abilities of Saudi citizens both men and women. She estimated the kingdom's current work force to be 11.5 million and anticipated that the figure would rise to 21 million by 2020.
She said the contribution of women is inevitable with 121,000 Saudi girls graduating from secondary schools and 44,000 from universities annually. Moreover, Saudi women invest SR42 billion (US$11.19 billion) in the market and their bank savings amount to SR100 billion.
During the two-day forum, business and academic leaders from the Arab world, Saudi government officials and progressive-thinking men and women came up with recommendations and policies to facilitate women's participation in the nation's economic development. They said education and training were the keys to opening women's role in nation building, and they discussed the obstacles that stand in the way of women's empowerment.
Abdul Wahid al-Homaid, Deputy Minister of Labour, told forum participants that 66 per cent of Saudi university students were women, and that made their integration into the workforce a must for progress and development. He said the government was keen to address the factors that hindered the process of employing women, including transportation problems, unpleasant working conditions and the lack of the proper skills to qualify women to work in much-needed services, such as health care, information technology or women-specific retail services, such as lingerie and beauty-product stores.
However, women in the audience criticised the ministry for making it difficult for them to manage their own businesses without a male guardian or agent, which often allows men to wrest control of women's money.
Analysing Syariah policies that govern women's employment in the Kingdom, Mohammed al-Mushawih, accredited Ministry of Justice consultant and judge, discussed pre-emptive regulations applied to protect Muslim values in the workforce including segregation laws, the niqab (face veil) and the ban on women driving. Unfortunately, it is such excessive precautionary laws and regulations that have stood in the way of women's employment and limited their business opportunities.
The need to codify Syariah law in order to eliminate ambiguities and monitor its incorrect implementation was emphasised by Adnan al-Buraikan, a prominent Saudi lawyer. He stressed the importance of a Syariah code of law that would help familiarise the people with their legal rights and obligations in Islam. Participants also discussed mechanisms to revise some of the rules and regulations that would better serve society in accordance with a more enlightened interpretation of Syariah.
One of the forum's highlights was the boldness of speakers who debated the obstacles related to tradition and culture, rigid interpretations of Islam, unsupportive families and husbands as well as Syariah laws and regulations governing womens employment. Audience members voiced their concerns to participants on issues that were taboo in the past; now they openly criticised the policies and rulings that impede our society and hinder our progress and development as a nation.
In most Muslim countries the role of women is limited. This is due to the fact that Muslim women are unaware of their legal rights in Islam, and many men abuse the women's limited knowledge of Islam. Dr Farida Banany, professor of higher education, Faculty of Law in Morocco, urged Saudi women to learn their legal rights so as to differentiate between what is culture or tradition and what is Syariah law. Women should speak up and demand their God-given rights, and they should not be intimidated by family pressure or customs if they wish to succeed, she said.
The greatest impediments to Saudi women today are religious extremists who have exerted an intolerant stranglehold on the social and educational environment for a very long time. They continue to resist the implementation of reforms and accuse government reformists of adopting policies that fall beyond the narrow bounds of their so-called Muslim way of life.
Until the extremists' manipulation of our youth in schools is curbed, their inappropriate obstruction of government regulations to integrate women into the workforce is checked, and society realises that women are equal contributing members of society, the reform movement in Saudi Arabia will continue to slog at a very slow pace, compromising the Kingdom's regional leadership and its vital influence on the Muslim world while damning our children to a future of ignorance and poverty.
Souad Al-Hakeem, professor of philosophy at Lebanon University's Faculty of Arts and Human Sciences, gave an inspiring presentation in which she said that women must not allow incorrect interpretations of Islam to stand in the way of recognising Muslim women as international role models who are capable of global thinking and becoming international partners in progress and development.
The Khadija binte Khuwailid Centre for Businesswomen should be commended for organising such a forum and for its members hard work and dedication to addressing the obstacles that stand in the way of the advancement of women in Saudi society and their initiatives to provide better services for Saudi women.
Samar Fatany is a Jeddah-based radio journalist.Arab News
In her keynote address, Princess Adelah binte Abdullah ibni Abdul Aziz stressed the importance of women's empowerment and cautioned that the country will never develop without using all the talents and abilities of Saudi citizens both men and women. She estimated the kingdom's current work force to be 11.5 million and anticipated that the figure would rise to 21 million by 2020.
She said the contribution of women is inevitable with 121,000 Saudi girls graduating from secondary schools and 44,000 from universities annually. Moreover, Saudi women invest SR42 billion (US$11.19 billion) in the market and their bank savings amount to SR100 billion.
During the two-day forum, business and academic leaders from the Arab world, Saudi government officials and progressive-thinking men and women came up with recommendations and policies to facilitate women's participation in the nation's economic development. They said education and training were the keys to opening women's role in nation building, and they discussed the obstacles that stand in the way of women's empowerment.
Abdul Wahid al-Homaid, Deputy Minister of Labour, told forum participants that 66 per cent of Saudi university students were women, and that made their integration into the workforce a must for progress and development. He said the government was keen to address the factors that hindered the process of employing women, including transportation problems, unpleasant working conditions and the lack of the proper skills to qualify women to work in much-needed services, such as health care, information technology or women-specific retail services, such as lingerie and beauty-product stores.
However, women in the audience criticised the ministry for making it difficult for them to manage their own businesses without a male guardian or agent, which often allows men to wrest control of women's money.
Analysing Syariah policies that govern women's employment in the Kingdom, Mohammed al-Mushawih, accredited Ministry of Justice consultant and judge, discussed pre-emptive regulations applied to protect Muslim values in the workforce including segregation laws, the niqab (face veil) and the ban on women driving. Unfortunately, it is such excessive precautionary laws and regulations that have stood in the way of women's employment and limited their business opportunities.
The need to codify Syariah law in order to eliminate ambiguities and monitor its incorrect implementation was emphasised by Adnan al-Buraikan, a prominent Saudi lawyer. He stressed the importance of a Syariah code of law that would help familiarise the people with their legal rights and obligations in Islam. Participants also discussed mechanisms to revise some of the rules and regulations that would better serve society in accordance with a more enlightened interpretation of Syariah.
One of the forum's highlights was the boldness of speakers who debated the obstacles related to tradition and culture, rigid interpretations of Islam, unsupportive families and husbands as well as Syariah laws and regulations governing womens employment. Audience members voiced their concerns to participants on issues that were taboo in the past; now they openly criticised the policies and rulings that impede our society and hinder our progress and development as a nation.
In most Muslim countries the role of women is limited. This is due to the fact that Muslim women are unaware of their legal rights in Islam, and many men abuse the women's limited knowledge of Islam. Dr Farida Banany, professor of higher education, Faculty of Law in Morocco, urged Saudi women to learn their legal rights so as to differentiate between what is culture or tradition and what is Syariah law. Women should speak up and demand their God-given rights, and they should not be intimidated by family pressure or customs if they wish to succeed, she said.
The greatest impediments to Saudi women today are religious extremists who have exerted an intolerant stranglehold on the social and educational environment for a very long time. They continue to resist the implementation of reforms and accuse government reformists of adopting policies that fall beyond the narrow bounds of their so-called Muslim way of life.
Until the extremists' manipulation of our youth in schools is curbed, their inappropriate obstruction of government regulations to integrate women into the workforce is checked, and society realises that women are equal contributing members of society, the reform movement in Saudi Arabia will continue to slog at a very slow pace, compromising the Kingdom's regional leadership and its vital influence on the Muslim world while damning our children to a future of ignorance and poverty.
Souad Al-Hakeem, professor of philosophy at Lebanon University's Faculty of Arts and Human Sciences, gave an inspiring presentation in which she said that women must not allow incorrect interpretations of Islam to stand in the way of recognising Muslim women as international role models who are capable of global thinking and becoming international partners in progress and development.
The Khadija binte Khuwailid Centre for Businesswomen should be commended for organising such a forum and for its members hard work and dedication to addressing the obstacles that stand in the way of the advancement of women in Saudi society and their initiatives to provide better services for Saudi women.
Samar Fatany is a Jeddah-based radio journalist.Arab News
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