Enhancing Women's Empowerment in Saudi Arabia: Initiatives and Achievements
The voluntary presentation for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at CSW63 highlighted the country's efforts in empowering women. Saudi Arabia has implemented policies focused on gender equality, including increasing female participation in various fields, ensuring equal pay, and providing access to economic resources. By enacting legislation, promoting entrepreneurship, and supporting women-led initiatives, Saudi Arabia is making significant strides towards women's empowerment and sustainable development.
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Voluntary Presentation for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on the Review Theme of CSW63 New York- United Nation Headquarters 11- 22 March, 2019
CSW63 review theme and key areas for action of CSW60 agreed conclusions
Purpose of the review theme and the Voluntary Presentation For the Review Theme The event provides an opportunity for the Commission to evaluate Gaps and Challenges in Member States implementation of Women s empowerment and the link to sustainable development For the Voluntary Presentation To Showcase and Share Saudi government s policies and actions to empower women and girls. Experiences and success stories to overcome structural and social barriers to women and girls empowerment 3
1. Strengthening normative, legal and policy frameworks 1.1 Mainstreaming a gender perspective in government policies and programs at all levels Saudi Arabia has pursued equality based on the principles highlighted in the Basic System of Governance. The following are examples of policies related to gender equality adopted by Saudi Arabia: 47% is the percentage of females graduates from Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia aims to create more opportunities women in the labor market by opening more majors in universities and opportunities in vocational training. 113% is the increase in the number of female lawyers 2017. Saudi women get equal pay for equal jobs. As Ministry of labor and Social Development has generated a system to monitor achieving the policy. universities in for In 2017, A Royal decree was issued to all entities to provide services to women without asking for their male guardian s approval. Women entered the justice system as prosecutors, lawyers, social worker, officers, and many more. 4
1. Strengthening normative, legal and policy frameworks 1.2 Enacting legislation and reforms to realize the equal rights of women and men to access economic and productive resources Saudi Arabia promotes empowerment of women in all policies to ensure that women have access to economic and productive resources. 127,000 new commercial registrations issued for women in 2017. Prince Sultan Fund for Women Development A non-profit organization aims to provide support and guidance for women to be an active member in the national economy, to overcome obstacles that faces Saudi women and prepare them to lead the future.. King Abdulaziz Women Charitable Society Assembly Groodh Albarakah Center aims to raise the status of women by providing loans to women who want to start up a business Business Incubators are keen to enable women entrepreneurs and to support them to overcome challenges through a program called My Project Social Development Bank in cooperation with national entrepreneurship institute (Riyadh) is providing loans to support a wide range of businesses. It also designed a program in financing projects of young people (boys & girls) who have the desire to practice self- employment. . 5
1. Strengthening normative, legal and policy frameworks 1.3 Promoting women s economic rights and independence, rights to work and decent work for all KSA government published policies that support women in the labor market. The policies help make the work environment more appealing for women to join the labor market, and mitigate the difficulties that make it hard for women to join. 130% Percentage increase in the number of women in the private sector over the past five years. Women are Now Driving In 2017, a royal decree was issued to lift the ban on women s driving . 25% of the Members is reserved for women in Human Rights Commission. 119 Women in diplomatic positions in 2017, with the increase of %150 in compare to 2013 Imtethal Platform Is to allow multi-level audit to ensure compliance with polices and regulations including gender-equality in work place and work environment for women. 6
1. Strengthening normative, legal and policy frameworks 1.4 Recognizing, reducing and redistributing unpaid care and domestic work by prioritizing social protection KSA government has always been keen to raise the status of women and girls by paving the way for their employment. Quraah Program is a national initiative where Human Resources Development contributes with 80% of the children, 0- 5,hospitality cost. The program aims to encourage working mothers in the private sector to continue working while their children in the child care centers and nurseries. In addition to that, mothers who are seeking jobs can also enroll their children facilities. 10 weeks, paid Is the maternity mothers in Saudi Arabia, which can be extend to a month, paid, for health related reason. In addition to 10 weeks maternity leave, mothers could also get ONE year partially maternity leave. Fathers also get maternity leave for three days mothers. leave for Fund paid in childcare to support Labor Law Guarantees women equal opportunity for promotion and training even during maternity leave. 7
1. Strengthening normative, legal and policy frameworks 1.5 Ensuring the promotion and protection of women s human rights Saudi Vision 2030 devotes the necessary efforts to ensure women effective participation in all fields, and to ensure the accessibility to their rights in education, employment, life, health, and social protection. Awareness Girls right of education and women empowerment are included in school curricula. Education & Health Including higher education, and Health services are offered to all, equally, and free of charge. Tamheer, and Droob programs Aim to prepare women and men for the labor market, opportunities offered to both men and women equally. Sexual Harassment Law In 2018, the Council of Ministers mandated to protect women and men rights against harassment . sexual 8
2. Fostering enabling environments for financing gender equality and womens empowerment 2.1 Implementing the commitments made in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda There is no particular fund dedicated for gender equality, as most funding take into consideration serving both gender equally. However, Saudi Arabia has taken actions to reflect commitment to women s full and equal participation and leadership in economy through the Saudi Vision 2030 strategic objectives , increase women participation in labor market. KSA ensures the achievement of this objective by setting indicators that aims to empower women in leadership positions, increase their number in private sectors, and enable them to access economic resources equally. Women empowerment KSA is increasingly targeting to hire women for high positions in private and public sectors, and ensuring that women equally access all the financial services (both commercial and public). Saudi Arabia takes into consideration achieving the empowerment of women and girls in line with SDG 5. NGOs, government and private sector role in maintaining financial support for women. AlNahda Women Charitable Society provides financial support for women to protect them from poverty Human Resource Development Fund provides financial incentives to the private sectors to hire more women Social Development Bank, SDB, provides financial and logistic support for women. Over 25 successful projects for women entrepreneurs have been carried out by SDB in various fields. 9
2. Fostering enabling environments for financing gender equality and womens empowerment 2.2 Mainstreaming gender-responsive budgeting across government and sectors Human Resources Development Fund has allocated allowance to women and entities as an incentive to increase female human capital Taqaat program supports 30% of Saudi nationals wages for their first year of work. Then, the wage subsidies get reduced to 20% and 10% for the second year and the third year, respectively. entities are entitled to an additional incentive of 10% in case the employees are females. 10
2. Fostering enabling environments for financing gender equality and womens empowerment 2.3 Institutionalizing gender-responsive financial analysis of policies and budgets Increasing women participation in labor market is one of Saudi Vision 2030 objectives. Many programs were launched to achieve women inclusion, each one of them has a separate budget. The following are some of the programs: Enable women in the government sector and promote their leadership role Provide day care facilities for children, and subsidized women transportation Parallel training targeting unemployed women to unable them with the skills necessary to enhance their chances in the labor market 11
2. Fostering enabling environments for financing gender equality and womens empowerment 2.4 Establishing dedicated funds for gender equality There is no particular fund dedicated for gender equality as most funding takes into consideration serving both gender equally; however, Saudi Arabia has dedicated budgets to programs that aim to fulfil Saudi Vision 2030. Human Resources Development Fund, HRDF, is one of the entities that enable women through programs that were launched such as: Retraining science college female graduates is a program that provides retraining to female graduates of science colleges to work in some health or auxiliary health fields. . Remote Work Program aims to meet the need of women and people with special conditions by offering flexible employment opportunities. Wosoul program an initiative aiming to reduce the burden of transportation cost on female employees in the private sector, by providing transportation subsidies. The service is provided through smart phone applications. 12
2. Fostering enabling environments for financing gender equality and womens empowerment 2.5 Closing resource gaps, including strengthening international cooperation and fulfilling ODA commitments and prioritisation of gender equality $2.6 Billion Was spent in the past five years by King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center in a program that supports men and women without any discrimination By 2017, SAR 55 Billion was spent by the Saudi Fund for Development to fund 674 projects in 82 countries. 13
3. Strengthening womens leadership and full and equal participation 3.1 Temporary special measures and affirmative action measures such as quotas for political representation in elections and parliaments and membership of public and private sector boards KSA has taken several measures that aim to enable women to hold leading positions in the government, and prohibits discrimination against female workers. Saudi Women in Leadership holding different leading positions in the government and private sectors, such as vice minister, chairperson of councils and CEO positions of leading banks companies, and recently the first female ambassador was appointed to the US. 20% of Shuraa Council seats are designated to women The Shuraa Council is an advisory body that plays a vital role in reviewing legislations by reporting directly to the king. and several Equal Right to Vote and Run for Election Saudi women participated actively in municipal, and Champer of Commerce elections, having run for over 19 seats in the pervious round (2016) 14
3. Strengthening womens leadership and full and equal participation 3.2 Measures to ensure women s effective participation in peace processes King Abdulaziz Center for National Dialogue, KACND, aims to strengthen national unity and protect the social fabric by consolidating the values of diversity, coexistence, and national cohesion Youth Committee in KACND provides programs that are aligned with SDG 16, such as Safeer and Voluntarily Bayader. The two programs are based on youth contribution, male and female, to spread awareness on respecting different beliefs and cultures, and promote values of dialogue Misk Foundation in collaboration with UNDP serving a platform to achieve peace and Sustainable Development Goals by promoting intercultural understanding, tolerance, mutual respect, citizenship ethics and shared responsibilities. Saudi women participated in 2017 forum. 15
3. Strengthening womens leadership and full and equal participation 3.3 The promotion of women s increased participation in public life, by recognising shared work and parental responsibilities Vision 2030 ensures women s participation in public life. Several initiatives were launched to encourage working mothers in the private sector to continue working while their children are taken by the child care centers and nurseries. Qurrah Program Human Resources Development Fund contributes with 80% of the 0-5-years-old children s hospitality cost Public School Curricula To increase awareness of recognizing shared work and parental responsibilities, Ministry of Education has included this message in the curricula 16
3. Strengthening women leadership and full and equal participation 3.4 Ensuring a positive and enabling environment and increasing resources and support for women and civil society organisations KSA is keen to support women and civil society organization to ensure empowerment of women and stability of families by providing financial and logistic support Mawada Charity Association aims to reduce divorce rate in Saudi Arabia by providing social, psychological, and legal consultation for couples. The government ensures the effectiveness of work by providing the organization with offices in each court to ensure women accessibility to the services. Bunyan Aims to improve life for needy families by providing them with financial resources and housing. Leader Forum, Prince Sultan Fund for Women Development Is an annual forum targeting girls in high schools and universities to unable them identify and overcome barriers, practice their leadership skills, and to share experiences of young female leaders. Alnahdah Assembly Launched many programs to provide women with the skills they need to be future leaders. Career program is targeting female with a low socioeconomic background and assign them to programs that meet their needs to be capable of taken decision and lead their families and communities. 17
4. Strengthening gender-responsive data collection, follow-up and review processes 4.1 To include a gender-responsive approach in the national follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda There are many civil society organizations, universities and private institutions in Saudi Arabia that are keen to ensure empowerment of women. In 2018 King Saud University, KSU, established National Observatory for Women aiming to observe and document Participation of Saudi women in development locally and internationally The impact on society and development. The observatory serves as supportive reference to decision makers, institutions, and civil society organizations through establishing indicators that aims to: Measure the role of Saudi women in development Provide beneficiaries with data and supporting studies to strengthen their role. Women committee, formed by Family Affairs Council, aims to monitor, measure, and document the status of women in Saudi Arabia with a great attention to achieve women empowerment in all SDGs. It creates partnerships with all entities to create holistic approach to gender-responsive data collection. 18
4. Strengthening gender-responsive data collection, follow-up and review processes 4.2 To strengthen national statistical capacity, including sex-disaggregated data 4.3 To improve gender statistics and methodologies to measure progress in SDG implementation and monitoring General Authority for Statistics has included sex-disaggregated data into their methodologies and data collection. This includes SDG-related indicators. Women committee aims to monitor, measure, and document the achievement of the national objectives through Saudi Vision 2030 programs, with a great attention to fulfil international commitments such as SDG, G20, CEDAW, CSW, and ILO. 19
4. Strengthening gender-responsive data collection, follow-up and review processes 4.4 To enhance technical and financial collaboration between countries For Technical Collaboration Saudi Arabia recognize the importance of collaboration between countries in all fields that benefit humanity, and reflect on Saudi Arabia as a responsible country. Examples of Saudi Arabia s collaboration: Saudi Arabia is a member in the CSW, UN Human Rights and CEDAW Saudi Arabia, through Tadawul, is a partner of Sustainable Stock Exchange initiative launched by the UN to collaborate and encourage stakeholders to develop sustainable capital market which include women s economic empowerment. Saudi Arabia is a member in all leading regional and global organization Saudi Arabia notified more than 16 Human rights protocols For Financial Collaboration King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center $2.5 Billion was spent on 692 projects in 37 countries. The center funds projects in different fields such as education, health, Protection, nutrition, water, sanitation, and hygiene, to name just a few areas. 20
5. Enhancing national institutional arrangements 5.1 Strengthen, support and promote the visibility of national mechanisms for gender equality The Basic System of Governance in Saudi Arabia prohibits all kinds of discrimination Saudi missionaries in leading regional and international organizations addresses national gender equality mechanism in international forums and conferences 21
5. Enhancing national institutional arrangements 5.2 Enhance coherence and coordination of inter-institutional mechanisms for coordination and decision-making relating to gender equality The Royal Court and the Council of Ministers in Saudi Arabia are the platforms of setting the policies and strategic directions that ensure the coherence and coordination of the entities The Royal approval of the organizational set-up of The Family Affairs Council is vested with an autonomous financial and administrative status and has a wide spectrum mandate that includes the following: Set of family relevant strategic objectives that seek to promote the family's role in society Serve women and families and fulfilling the SDG commitment Promote and advance family stature and role of family in social development Maintaining a strong and cohesive family that attends to the welfare of its members Unify efforts and coordinate with entities that are related to women issues for effective results 22
5. Enhancing national institutional arrangements 5.3 Gender mainstreaming in the context of the 2030 Agenda to ensure that gender equality considerations are integrated into implementation across all Goals and targets Ministry of Economy and Planning, MEP, is mandated to lead national efforts to achieve Sustainable Development Goals. Strategic planning Implementation which includes gender considerations in all goals with a specific focus on Goal 5 Women Committee aims to monitor, measure, and document the achievements of the national objectives through Saudi Vision 2030 programs, with a great attention to fulfil international commitments such as SDGs, G20, CEDAW, CSW, and ILO. 23
