Gulf | Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia makes efforts to create jobs for women
Government is trying to deal with a sensitive issue without angering conservatives.
- By Abdul Rahman, Shaheen Correspondent
- Published: 23:03 March 12, 2009
- Image Credit: Supplied
- A woman shops at a mall in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Some Saudis say women should only be allowed to work in stores that sell women's abayas.
Riyadh: The government of Saudi Arabia is exerting all efforts to create more job opportunities for women in various sectors.
"The government is determined to create an appropriate environment for women at work places in line with Islamic principles and the tradition of Saudi Arabia," a source said.
The government's resolve to expand job opportunities for Saudi women in different economic sectors comes at a time when a large section of the community is still reluctant to grant women more freedom.
At the forefront of this group are some members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (commonly known as the religious police), who want women's jobs at shopping centres to be restricted to only those shops that deal with the sale of women's abayas.
Speaking to Gulf News, Dr Mufleh Al Qah'tani, president of the Kingdom's National Society for Human Rights, emphasised that women's right to work would be protected at all costs, especially in the cases of women who have no male members to support their destitute family members.
He stressed the need for specialised studies to be carried out to identify jobs and sectors that are more suitable for women, other than the teaching profession.
"Efforts shall be made to expand these sectors and remove the hurdles, if any, for taking up of jobs for women in those sectors," he said.
Al Qah'tani called for effective steps to implement the decisions taken earlier by the Council of Ministers in this respect. In a decision taken a few years ago, the cabinet authorised women to work in all sectors. In 2004, the cabinet adopted a number of procedures facilitating women to work in both the government and private sectors. In the following year, the cabinet instructed authorities to open women's sections in government departments to deal with women's matters.
In another decision, the cabinet allowed women to work in areas such as women's branches of banks, security checks for women at airports and other entry points and also to conduct Islamic Dawa work among women.
Accordingly, the Ministry of Labour has appointed 30 women officials in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam to implement the Council of Ministers' decision.
While appointing these women, Labour Minister Dr Gazi Al Gosaibi said "creating jobs for women is not a new thing".
"It started 25 years ago when the Manpower Council was established," he said.
Al Gosaibi said a special religious panel had approved the Manpower Council's plan for expanding job opportunities for women in health, education, social care and other areas.
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