Women's employment in Saudi Arabia: A major challenge (page 4 of 4)

Women should be encouraged and prepared to assume highly visible positions, and selected to represent the Kingdom at regional and international meetings.

• Facilitate the development of a system of transportation services for women that enables them to commute to work without the help of a driver or a male family member.

As the entity that is most directly responsible for setting employment policy, the Ministry of Labour has the opportunity to assume a vital role in improving the role of women in the Saudi labour market. A critical first step in achieving this goal is the establishment of a Special Bureau for Women's Affairs within the Ministry, creating a framework for policy and establishing the direction of future research.

Without a strong legal foundation, policies crumble and the Ministry of Labour should ensure that national and international labour laws are enforced and implemented, including legislation to ensure gender equality in recruitment, employment and compensation, as well as social security coverage and family-friendly policies. At the policy level, the Ministry should:

• Implement infrastructural support for working women, including flexible hours, parental leave, and child-care facilities, and expand the availability of nurseries in workplaces.

• With the Ministry of Education, create centres that offer career guidance and development services for women joining the labour market.

• Establish a timetable for implementation and a framework for monitoring progress and modifying programmes based on evaluation and feedback, ramping up data collection and employing up-to-date statistical techniques. Data collection should include household surveys in urban and rural areas, and institutions across all sectors of the labour market should be analysed in regard to the skills in demand.

The Ministry of Education has a valuable opportunity to assume a leadership role in reforming and improving the Saudi public educational system so that it produces a robust, capable labour force that prepares girls for the labour market. To accomplish this, the Ministry of Education should:

• Reform the curriculum so that learning materials emphasise the ability to identify, analyse and solve problems and to adapt to new tasks, with an eye towards gender-sensitivity by highlighting women succeeding in a variety of professions, including those traditionally associated with men.

• Prepare women to work in fields such as information technology and engineering.

• Offer open-entry/open-exit courses and distance-learning opportunities at women's universities in major cities and provinces and revise their curriculum to portray women as a vital part of the country's economic development.

• Encourage the creation of a culture of continuous education and training for women.

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry can play a critical role in Saudi Arabia's economic progress by leading efforts to incorporate women into the labour market. The Ministry of Commerce should:

• Enforce and implement the 2004 decision to eliminate the wakil requirement.

• Encourage private institutions and funds to support women's economic growth through loans and grants.

• Encourage and promote cross-sector partnerships.

• Encourage entrepreneurship for low-income women through the development of microfinance programmes and, with the Ministry of Social Affairs, support women's traditional income-generating activities such as food processing and marketing and the production of handicrafts.

• Establish training programmes to empower women with confidence, skills, expertise and technical know-how to advance to managerial, decision-making positions.

As Saudi Arabia looks to develop a knowledge-based economy, it has to invest in the education and training of all of its citizens.

"Women represent a valuable yet untapped source of energy for the new economy. Investing in women's education, training and professional assimilation will yield enormous rewards, both today and far into the future," said AlMunajjed. The measures proposed above will ensure that the Saudi labour market is robust, capable and equipped to deal with tomorrow's challenges—and reap its opportunities.