Omani women rule the waves, break another barrier

Dubai: Twenty-one Omani women made history. They became sailors.

The group, aged between 18 and 35, last month successfully completed the International Sailing Federation accredited instructors assessment programme. They were picked from 150 applicants. None of them had sailed before nor could even swim when they joined the programme.

Their achievement was welcomed by many Omani activists and prominent women’s figures.

“This is something very distinguished,” commented Najia Al Muawali, the first Omani woman horse-rider and the first woman to obtain a certificate as commercial pilot in the sultanate. Today, she is one among top Omani businesswomen.

“This is an honour for Omani women,” she told Gulf News on the women sailors, who completed the programme, accredited by the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) and were awarded sailing instructor certificates.

Oman Sail Women’s programme was launched seven months ago. Top women sailors from around the world were recruited as mentors and coaches. After graduation, the Omani women travelled to France for more training and orientation, sources explained to Gulf News.

None of those who joined the programme were available to comment.

Interestingly enough, Najia wrote a research paper in 2002 before graduating as a pilot tackling the absence of women captains not only in Oman or the rest of Gulf states, but also in the Middle East.

Today, “we (Omani women) broke all the barriers in the way of equality between men and women” Najia said.

Women constitute nearly half of the Omani population, estimated at three million, including expatriates.

However, their numbers in the workforce have been steadily increasing. From 12,193 in government sector and 3,632 in the private sector in 1995, Omani women’s presence in the labour force jumped to 43,204 in the government sector and 26,632 in the private sector in 2008.

Literacy rates have been noticeably growing. In 1970, there were no girls among the 909 students din the three schools in the sultanate then. In 2009, there were 1,043 schools and 260,329 girl students among the 531,283 students. The proportion of girls was almost 49 per cent.

The Oman Sail Women’s Programme aims “to create a new generation of women sailors, to create job opportunities and to contribute to the development of women’s sports in Oman.”, Oman Sail’s CEO David Graham was quoted in a press statement.