waz
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Yes but you need to beat her two matches out of three to get her phone number and its even tougher to get a a date
Ha! I'm training right now for her
The Changing Face of Saudi Arabian Women
- Thread starter Bilad al-Haramayn
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Ha! I'm training right now for her
Bilad al-Haramayn
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Ha! I'm training right now for her
I hope that she can give the worst of our Mullah's a scorpion kick.
Meet the Saudi Arabian artist who blends Islamic calligraphy with geometry
'Al Hay’ (Photo credit: Lulwah al-Homoud)
By Miles Lawrence Special to Al Arabiya EnglishThursday, 7 April 2016
Text size Abu Dhabi Louvre museum.
However, people are often less aware of the thriving art scene in Saudi Arabia. While particularly strong in the western coastal city of Jeddah, the capital Riyadh also has its fair share of art galleries and studios.
Stepping through the doors of the Naila Gallery for the opening of Lulwah al-Homoud’s retrospective “Sublime,” there was a palpable energy in the air, with a vibrant mix of men and women, young and old, Saudi and non-Saudi.
Homoud is an artist, designer, curator, and founder of Dubai-based gallery and initiative Cube Arts.
Her work reframes traditional Islamic geometry and calligraphy using techniques such as silkscreen printing, painting and gilding.
Lulwah al-Homoud. (Photo credit: Isaa Al Kindi)
Labels
Homoud considers herself an artist first - the labels ‘female’ and ‘Saudi’ are secondary. “I don’t see why it should be important to be female,” she told Al Arabiya English.
“I don’t like to segregate female or male. An artist is an artist, and that’s it. It’s about being a creative human being.
“Every woman has to develop what she has. It’s not about fame, it’s about being satisfied with your life and having meaning in it.
“I’m not the sort of person who likes people complaining, because if you’re busy doing things you won’t have time to complain.”
'Sublime' exhibition opening (Photo credit: Lulwah al-Homoud)
That ‘do-it-yourself’ attitude served her well when she was studying for her MA in visual communication design at Central St Martin’s in London.
“I did my research through interviews because I didn’t like what people wrote about Islamic art in books,” she says.
“I thought [Islamic art] wasn’t understood well, so I told my teachers, ‘I don’t like the references, I’ll interview scholars.’
“They told me I’d either get an excellent dissertation or a fail. I told them, ‘I’m going to do it.’ Did it work out in the end? Of course.”
Influences
One person she interviewed for her MA, whom she cites as a major influence on her work, is Lebanese artist and calligrapher Samir al-Sayegh.
Other influences include Dutch artist MC Escher, and 11th-century philosophers of Islamic civilization during the Abbasid period, when they developed new language and writing systems, as well as maths.
Other Arab artists to look out for at the moment, Homoud says, are Ismael al-Refaei (Syrian), Nja Mehdoui (Tunisian), Hazem el-Mestikawy (Egyptian) and Mohammed Syam (Saudi).
Islamic art
Speaking about why geometry and calligraphy are so central to classical Islamic art, she says: “I think it’s the only way to represent sophisticated ideas. If you look at Picasso, Matisse, Paul Klee, Mondrian, at the end of their lives when they became more spiritual, they went more to lines and shapes - they weren’t drawing people anymore.
“With the Islamic period, they started with the abstract because they were talking about the universe.
“It had to be abstract because it’s representing something spiritual. So the less comprehensive, the more depth in the work.”
Much of the “Sublime” exhibition focuses on Islamic or spiritual themes, the piece-de-resistance being “The Language of Existence,” a series of towering blue canvases featuring exploding silver geometric patterns, each of which is a graphical representation of one of the 99 Arabic names of God.
In another series, “Growing Cubes,” the pattern was formed out of angular calligraphic writing denoting the names of God.
“Art is spiritual, but when you’re not talking about yourself,” she says. “That’s why the exhibition is called ‘Sublime,’ because you’re somewhere higher than your inner self.
“It doesn’t speak about specific experiences, feelings or suffering. It talks about something bigger than us, about creation, about the creator.”
Cube Dot (Photo credit: Lulwah al-Homoud)
The cubes that feature so prominently in her work hold religious significance for the artist. They embody the Kaaba, the cuboid structure at the center of the Holy Mosque in Makkah, toward which Muslims worldwide face when they pray.
“The Kaaba is the center of so many things,” she says. “It’s the center of different civilizations."
Knowledge
Homoud talks keenly about reading and the search for knowledge. Some artists like to go to a particular place to find inspiration, but her artistic ideas often arrive when she reads a book.
“There are things I read that aren’t accepted very much here,” she says, “but it’s not about belief, it’s about opening up to knowledge, which was exactly what the Muslims used to do a long time ago. They never expelled or excluded anything.
“Knowledge was very important, and other people’s knowledge was very important. For example, when they created their geometric patterns, they used the Vedic square, which comes from northern India. This is what I like, opening up to knowledge.”
What is next for Homoud? “I’ll keep looking for and acquiring knowledge. I don’t know what comes out of that.
“For me, ‘The Language of Existence’ is my lifetime project. Whatever I do, I go back to it and do more.”
Last Update: Thursday, 7 April 2016 KSA 08:04 - GMT 05:04
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/lif...lends-Islamic-calligraphy-with-geometry-.html
Good job girl and good luck.
Saif al-Arab
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AISHA FAREED | Published — Thursday 29 December 2016
Dima Talal Al-Sharif
JEDDAH: After years of being prohibited from appearing in court, female lawyers in 2013 achieved a significant victory in being able to practice law and argue their cases in Saudi courtrooms.
Female lawyers have the right to advocate for issues that are not only women-related, but cover a variety of cases such as commercial, personal and labor affairs.
They were not content to just obtain a license to practice law — they demanded to be included in legal committees and bodies, including the Saudi Bar Association.
On their way to realizing their rights, female lawyers had to overcome many obstacles in law offices and courtrooms to work legally and formally under the Ministry of Justice.
Some did not limit their work to the domestic sphere, undertaking studies and research on legal problems at an international level.
A research paper by lawyer Huda Omar Ba-Shmail, entitled “Investment disputes settlement within the framework of the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) and the Protection of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI),” was published in an American banking trade magazine.
Bayan Zahran, a Jeddah-based attorney who in January 2014 became the first Saudi woman to open a law firm, says women’s presence in courtrooms long predated the granting of licenses.
“I’ve been arguing my cases since opening my law firm officially, but even before the license we used to do the same through attorneyship,” she said.
Women have been authorized lawyers in Saudi courts for three years. They are recognized, and have rights and duties like their male counterparts based on the Saudi legal system.
Zahran said expertise dictated which cases a lawyer could argue: “As long as a lawyer, male or female, has the expertise that qualifies him or her to obtain the law license, they can argue any cases without exceptions.”
Some 90 percent of her clients are women, as women usually prefer someone who can relate to their issues, and Saudi Arabia is a conservative place where they would hesitate to talk freely with male lawyers.
Female lawyers can also get male clients who are willing to hire them. Zahran was recently hired by a group of male doctors to get their rights from a hospital they work at.
Among the obstacles female lawyers have had to deal with is society’s view of such a job for women. Some people did not accept their presence in courtrooms alongside men.
Zahran said ignoring negative feedback was the best approach: “Criticism doesn’t really mean anything to me. What I truly care about is my job, delivering justice and improving work standards in a good and humanitarian manner.”
There are neither specific regulations nor privileges that apply to female lawyers in the Saudi legal system.
Zahran says some fresh graduates have the wrong idea about the nature of their work, whereby female lawyers are treated differently than their male counterparts.
“If women keep in mind that law is all about sticking to the text, and interpreting and using it in a way that serves justice, they can defend their rights as lawyers.”
A number of female lawyers have volunteered to provide legal aid for those unable to hire lawyers in family and labor cases via a charitable initiative organized by the Takamul Investment Company in Jeddah.
The initiative involves training, employment assistance for participating lawyers, and legal services for those who cannot plead for themselves or afford to hire lawyers, says Takamul’s president, lawyer Majed Garoub.
As part of the initiative, graduates from regions throughout the Kingdom have been trained by jurists, judges, academics and members of judicial committees.
Volunteers undergo a training program to provide a thousand hours of voluntary work within five years.
Dima Talal Al-Sharif, a legal consultant at the Health, Food and Medicine Department at The Law Firm of Majed M. Garoub, said Saudi female lawyers were “the pioneers of the human rights renaissance in the Kingdom, where they have added much to the prosperity of this profession.”
Al-Sharif, who is a member of the Union Internationale des Avocats (UIA), says practicing law is not a profession or a title, but a passion and a challenge to prove oneself.
“This is what I saw and experienced through the participation of a large number of female lawyers at the Takamul initiative,” she said.
Al-Sharif expressed her wish that her colleagues get the encouragement and trust of Saudi society so they could give more.
“I wish that the voice of female lawyers in Saudi Arabia reaches greater places in the field of human rights in the Middle East and globally, not just in the Kingdom.”
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1030991/saudi-arabia
Excellent job.
Saif al-Arab
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"Two young Saudi women host a design event that is pushing boundaries of art and tradition.
Design, the arts and females leading innovation in the cultural field are not things you might associate with Saudi Arabia.
Enter young entrepreneur Basma Bouzo and interior designer Wadha Rashed.
Basma is the co-founder of Saudi Design Week, an event that seeks to foster local talent and create opportunities for designers. She has brought in Wadha to manage the installation of the event.
But running the fair is fraught with challenges in a kingdom steeped in religious patriarchal traditions.
Witness follows the two young friends as they put on Saudi Design Week and explore how they're opening up the reclusive kingdom through this unexpected field."
Design, the arts and females leading innovation in the cultural field are not things you might associate with Saudi Arabia.
Enter young entrepreneur Basma Bouzo and interior designer Wadha Rashed.
Basma is the co-founder of Saudi Design Week, an event that seeks to foster local talent and create opportunities for designers. She has brought in Wadha to manage the installation of the event.
But running the fair is fraught with challenges in a kingdom steeped in religious patriarchal traditions.
Witness follows the two young friends as they put on Saudi Design Week and explore how they're opening up the reclusive kingdom through this unexpected field."
Kuwaiti Girl
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Saudi women will end up liberalizing and modernizing Saudi society, in my opinion.
They're the real future and wealth of Saudi Arabia.
Once Saudi Arabia becomes a liberal and open country, it will lead the region and prevent other powers (e.g. Iran and Turkey) from subjugating the Arab World.
They're the real future and wealth of Saudi Arabia.
Once Saudi Arabia becomes a liberal and open country, it will lead the region and prevent other powers (e.g. Iran and Turkey) from subjugating the Arab World.
Saif al-Arab
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I liked/agreed with your post until I read the last part.
20 Saudi women take up hospitality jobs at airports
Jan 8, 2017
Selection of these women was based not only on their educational qualifications but also on other skills, etiquette and proficiency in English language. — Okaz photo
By Zain Anbar
JEDDAH — Some 20 Saudi women have joined the hospitality sector in four airports in Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam and Madinah to work as lounge supervisors and receptionists.
Director of hospitality department of Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) Talal Al-Tuaimi said the women will work in shifts especially designed for them so that they do not work beyond 9 p.m.
He said eight of them are working in Jeddah, five in Riyadh, five in Dammam and two in Madinah.
Tuaimi said their selection was based not only on their educational qualifications but also on other skills, etiquette and proficiency in English language.
He said the women were rigorously trained.
Ibrar Hashim, a receptionist at Al-Fursan lounge for domestic flights at King Abdul Aziz International Airport in Jeddah, said she was not facing any problems in dealing with passengers who willingly convey to her their remarks and observations.
“Passenger satisfaction is our main objective,” she said, adding that the training courses greatly helped her in discharging her duties.
Fatima Al-Arabi, a supervisor, said she joined about six months ago after receiving intensive training in customer service.
Meanwhile, another national airline company has employed Saudi women at King Khaled International Airport (KKIA) in Riyadh to issue boarding passes and check-in passengers.
Nawal Al-Ahmari, who is working for the company, said she joined about four months ago and was supported by her husband and family.
She is a holder of a master’s degree in IT from Australia and was a lecturer at King Saud University and Imam Mohammed Bin Saud Islamic University.
“I preferred the airport job because it is more challenging. I was among the first five women to be appointed,” she said.
Ghada Al-Qadi, who studied in the US, said she came to know about the hospitality openings from a friend and immediately sent her CV.
Qadi said they received training on customer service.
“The work environment is extremely healthy and the job is challenging,” she said.
CEO of the Saudi Gulf Air Company Samir Al-Majali said that about 15 percent of the company’s jobs will be occupied by women.
“We have tried employing women in Jeddah and Dammam, but will soon generalize the experiment to cover all the airports,” he said.
http://saudigazette.com.sa/saudi-arabia/20-saudi-women-take-hospitality-jobs-airports/
Divorce and workingwomen
Jan 5, 2017
By Samar Al-MogrenA REPORT issued recently by the General Authority for Statistics showed a 72.9 percent increase in the divorce rate among workingwomen.
This means that the highest percentage of divorce in the country is among employed women. It is strange that one of the local newspapers has attributed this high percentage of divorce to women’s work.
I believe anyone who blames women’s work as the cause for this high percentage of divorce is facing the issue with a very shallow mindset.
Whoever tries to ponder on the issue from different angles to see the real causes will find that the matter is much deeper than women’s work.
It is easy to see an attempt to make women’s employment a scapegoat and blame workingwomen for all the illnesses in society.
First among these is the institution of marriage, its components and methods. Statistics also indicate that the determinants of this institution in our society are a total failure.
Divorce in itself is not a failure as much as the absence of any serious and positive efforts to stop a failure. Actually, the real failure is in continuing a tattered marital life due to fear for others, including children or the extended family. This is despite the fact that continuing a failed marital life is the one that will have a negative impact on those around the couple than a divorce.
Returning to the subject of high divorce rate among workingwomen, I see that a woman’s economic independence and the rise in the level of awareness and education have made a woman refuse to live a half-life with a man she does not love. Even greater awareness among men makes them refuse to continue an uncomfortable marital life. Both parties or one of them has the right to put an end to this tragedy.
Women used to continue a half-life due to social considerations because society looks down on a divorced woman. Society has changed and the level of awareness has risen. In my opinion, society no longer treats a divorced woman with aversion because she is not a burden on others. Now she can bear her own economic responsibilities and those of her children. So long as she is not a burden on others, she is safe. Other members of society will not look down on a divorcee as they used to do in the past.
Economic empowerment of women has granted them social empowerment as well. This has qualified a woman to make decisions on her life. She is now capable of deciding her future – whether to continue a marital life or decide to separate from a man with whom life has become unbearable. It is her job that has enabled her to win this status.
This contradicts some of the opinions published in several newspapers in reaction to the statistics. These strange viewpoints are no longer in tandem with the phase we are going though because they consider a woman’s job to be a cause for her inability to fulfill her marital duties.
If we take a quick look at conditions in our society, we can see with our naked eyes where the negligence takes place: The husband is swaying between negligence of his duties and staying up the nights in the courtyards of rest-houses.
Meanwhile, a workingwoman with prick of conscience strives to compensate for her period of absence from her family.
However, I am not absolving all women here. The way men have shortcomings, women have shortcomings too. But in general and as we usually hear and see, it is men who are the negligent party.
Marriage is a holy relationship. If one of its pillars is violated, then separation remains the best, most courageous and safest option.
http://saudigazette.com.sa/opinion/local-viewpoint/divorce-and-workingwomen/
‘You are not alone’
Jan 8, 2017
To make orphans happy, the Ministry of Labor and Social Development branch in Northern Border Region in Arar organized a three-day forum entitled “You are not alone”. The forum, which concluded Saturday, highlighted their rights and needs. The activities included works of art and handicrafts. Contests were held and gifts were distributed to winners. — SPA
http://saudigazette.com.sa/saudi-arabia/you-are-not-alone/
Saif al-Arab
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Aramco first Arab woman to win prestigious security award
ORLANDO, U.S., December 07, 2016
Alanood Al-Rabiah is the first ever Arab woman to receive the award from the American Society of Industrial Security.
Alanood Al-Rabiah, group leader of Operational Excellence and Compliance in Saudi Aramco’s Industrial Security Support Department, recently received the Karen Marquez Memorial Honors women in security award.
The American Society of Industrial Security (ASIS) presented Al-Rabiah with the award during a ceremony in Florida, U.S. The award is given to security professionals who have consistently worked for the betterment of the security industry.
One of four women to receive the award in 2016, she is also the first Arab woman to ever receive the award. This impressive achievement was based on the evaluation of significant contributions Al-Rabiah made to the advancement of the security profession.
“I would like to thank my management in Saudi Aramco who have recommended me for this honor and will take this opportunity to support, promote and inspire other women working in the profession,” Al-Rabiah said. “It gives me great pleasure to see not only Saudi Aramco but also Saudi women being recognized for their boundless achievements.”
Jaber Al-Suhaimi, acting manager of the Industrial Security Support Department, commended Al-Rabiah, saying: “I praise Alanood for her fruitful contribution in industrial security. Her efforts have made her a role model in the security profession, inspiring women empowerment and development worldwide.”
ASIS International is the leading organization for security professionals worldwide. It contributes to the profession through a variety of programs and activities dedicated to increasing the effectiveness and productivity of security professionals.
http://www.saudiaramco.com/en/home/...-woman-to-win-prestigious-security-award.html
Women are taking the centre stage in Saudi Arabia
March 3, 2017:
A commercial bank in Saudi Arabia appointing a woman as a CEO; a woman becoming the dean of a renowned medical college; women and men attending the recent Comic Con event in Jeddah; Women-only gymnasiums gaining traction; celebration of first ever Women’s Day - Women in Saudi Arabia are well on their way to have similar rights as their male counterparts. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with a progressive leadership & a formative Vision 2030 document is fast becoming a society well in-sync with the developments of the rest of the world.
A traditional society with deep respect for its culture, values and its belief system, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, has an innate regard for the role of women in society.
One the biggest development has been in the financial sector. The financial sector is considered notorious around the world for its blatant disregard for gender parity – but in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, a lady has become the CEO of a commercial bank.
Also, most recently Dr. Dalal Moheealdin Namnaqani, the first Saudi woman was appointed as the dean of Taif University College of Medicine. Her appointment is seen as a big step in further inclusion of women in academia.
Saudi Arabia has made various changes over the last decade to liberalize the role of women in society. Prominent instances of this include adult franchise - enabling women to actively participate in the country’s political space, encouraging women to take a proactive role in the shaping of the economy, and taking legal measures to bring about an end to domestic violence – an endemic in many societies in the west.
A momentous occasion in the history of women’s rights in Saudi Arabia came when women were able to vote for the first time on December 13, 2015– a sign of progress. And not just vote, women could also participate in the entire process, projecting themselves as leaders.
A strong gender divide is prevalent across the world, but the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is taking giant strides in order to change the narrative of how women are held in society. The late King of Saudi Arabia King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud was lauded for his role in expanding women’s rights in Saudi Arabia.
Very recently, Saudi Arabia celebrated its first ever Women’s Day. It featured many a speaker who spoke on various issues around women empowerment in society. The event was also attended by Her Highness Princess Al-Jawhara bint Fahd Al Saud of the Royal family engaging in a nuanced discussion on the role of women in education.
20% of the seats in the advisory council that support the central government is allotted to women, and many a celebrated woman are already part of the council. In 2013, women became a formidable force in the Shura Council.
According to a report by McKinsey Global Institute, the economic profits of bridging the gender gap in Saudi Arabia has taken a positive turn. According to the report, it will eventually lead to a spike in their GDP by at least US $52 billion before 2025. Multiple steps have been taken to include women in the economic structure. This month, more than 10,000 Saudi women received technical training including ways to repair mobile phones – in an effort to improve their employment chances.
The Kingdom has also taken many a steps to ensure participation of women - including the introduction of a distance work scheme that allows women to work from home. Additionally, the Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Foundation (MiSK) recently launched an initiative to train women for leadership roles augmenting their management qualities which will eventually allow them to bring about positive influences at workplace.
In line with their ambitious social reform agenda ‘Vision 2030’, one of the goals of which is inclusion of women in the Saudi economy. Sarah Al-Suhaimi was appointed as the first ever women to chair the Saudi stock exchange along with Somayya Jabarti who will be the first ever woman to hold the rank of editor-in-chief in a Saudi news daily. To add to that, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Labor and Social Development has revealed a national policy for female employment that will provide more than 50,000 outsourcing job opportunities.
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is also bringing about various initiatives in order to make it easy for women to have a social, a political and an economic voice – as per some report, a woman no longer requires the male guardian’s permission to work. Authorities have given incentives to employers who allocate certain positions for women. Moreover, the Kingdom is providing hundreds of academic scholarships for women to study – in Saudi Arabia and abroad.
This week, Saudi Arabia hosted its first ever Comic Con event where both, men and women came together to share their love for comics, and other variants of pop culture.
This year’s Al Janadriyah festival also discussed various issues that plague women from across the world. To highlight the importance of women in society, Alwaleed Philanthropies - chaired by His Royal highness Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud – collaborated with the festival to display videos showing the journey of women and their struggle. After criminalizing domestic abuse in 2013, the government has also established a center whose primary task is to receive and respond to reports of domestic violence.
Saudi Arabia has worked and is constantly working to ease the access of women to services. In a landmark move, the government will begin issuing licenses for women-only gyms from this month to promote health and fitness among women.
With such enabling policies and initiatives, gender equality and empowerment are resonating well in Saudi Arabia
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com...ntre-stage-in-saudi-arabia/article9569336.ece
Saudi Arabian cardiologist honored in New York
10 March 2017
Dr. Rasha Fahd Al-Bawardi
A PROMINENT Saudi woman cardiologist who works for the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School was recently honored, along with 19 other Saudi women, by the Consulate General of Saudi Arabia in New York City.
Dr. Rasha Fahad Al-Bawardi was honored with 19 other Saudi women achievers by Saudi Consul General in New York Khalid Mohammad Al-Shareef. The ceremony, which took place as the world celebrated International Women’s Day, was attended by several consuls generals and diplomats.
Al-Bawardi was honored for her role in setting a great example for other Saudi women. She overcame numerous difficulties in medical school and found employment at Harvard University, one of the most prestigious institutions in the world. Today, she is a full-time professor at Harvard Medical School.
Thanking the Saudi mission in New York for giving her the award, Al-Bawardi said: “My mother taught us when we were little kids that there is nothing impossible and one can achieve anything they want if they set their minds to it.”
At a time when it was rare for foreign students to be admitted to US medical schools, Al-Bawardi secured a seat at George Washington University’s School of Medicine and Health Science due to her stellar academic credentials. She went on to earn an undergraduate degree in medical science and a graduate degree in genomics and bioinformatics from the same university. After that, she did her internship at Cleveland Clinic and then enrolled in Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York where she studied cardiology for three years.
“I conducted several research programs at the college. After that, I joined the Massachusetts General Hospital where I still work,” she said.
The scholarship program run by the Kingdom’s government allows Saudi students to realize their academic endeavors, said Al-Bawardi.
She added that she wants to serve her country by contributing to advancing medical research in the field of cardiology.
http://saudigazette.com.sa/saudi-arabia/saudi-cardiologist-honored-new-york/
Health and Wellness Gaining Traction Among Saudi Women
March 2017
Saudi women are increasingly stepping up as health and wellness leaders as sports advocates push for a more future of sports in the Kingdom that is all-inclusive and benefits all of society.
Princess Reema Bint Bandar Bin Sultan, undersecretary for the female section at the General Authority for Sports, met with Saudi women sports advocates in mid-February for a fruitful conversation that included a lengthy discussion about yoga and sports for the disabled.
Nouf Al-Marwaai, Honorary Secretary of the International Yoga Federation for Saudi Arabia and Arab Countries spoke about the importance of supporting yoga, which has several benefits for both physical and mental health. Al-Marwaai urged the Saudi government to get involved in promoting yoga, which is becoming increasingly popular among Saudi women of across all age groups.
In a sign that there is a great interest and demand for yoga, Al-Marwaai emphasized that she has taught yoga to approximately 8,000 students since 2005 and certified more than 150 teachers since 2008.
Princess Reema also held discussions with Faizah Natto, President of the Society for the Visually and Auditory Impaired, who talked about recent efforts to include people with disabilities into the wider Saudi community.
According to the Saudi Ministry of Economy and Planning, physical inactivity is a major health risk, common among adolescents with disabilities and often leading to other health issues such as obesity, making Natto’s perspective critical to discussions on increasing the accessibility of sports in the Kingdom.
Saudi Health and Wellness Leaders Aiding the Kingdom’s Transformation
Al-Marwaai and Natto are highly qualified, and offer a positive representation of contemporary Saudi women looking to serve society in their chosen professional fields. The position of Princess Reema as a leader in the emerging sector of women’s sports also demonstrates the enthusiasm of young women willing to step up and lead Saudi Arabia’s historic transformation under Vision 2030.
Read the full story on Saudi Gazette.
http://www.arabianow.org/health-wellness-traction-saudi-women/
This Saudi Female Horse Trainer is Charting the Societal Changes Underway
March 2017
While horses have been central to life in Saudi Arabia for centuries, women like horse trainer Dana al-Gosaibi, have found it difficult to pursue their passion for horses in the kingdom.
Saudi Arabia’s recent efforts to advance women’s rights, particularly toward women’s involvement in sports, gives Gosaibi hope that one day soon she will be able to realize her dream of opening her own stables.
Change is underway in the kingdom, Gosaibi noted. She returned to Saudi Arabia four years ago after living abroad for over a decade. She came back to find women working as cashiers, in sales and in offices.
In the last year, plans for social and economic reform have prompted even more opportunities for women. These plans include expanding sports opportunities for women and young people. Last year, the kingdom appointed Princess Reema bint Bandar al-Saud to oversee women’s sports and the Vision 2030 plan lays out increased opportunities for women to be involved in the economy.
Princess Reema said authorities would soon begin granting license for female-only gyms. Changes such as these create favorable condition for Gosaibi to start her own business.
Gosaibi’s stables would focus on more gentle methods for horse training than the standard approach in the male-dominated horse industry in the kingdom. However, she has faced resistance for her approach to working with the animals.
The traditional method for training horses in Saudi Arabia requires significant force, and utilizes spurs and whips. Gosaibi prefers to take time to observe and understand the horse, so she “becomes part of the horse’s herd.”
“You need to establish a certain relationship and understanding because the horse needs to trust you,” she said.
Gosaibi keeps two horses at a stable in Jeddha, where she is able to shed her traditional abayah in favor of a baseball cap, trousers and riding boots. Both men and other women use the stables. Gosaibi added that progress is happening in Saudi Arabia: “Women are becoming stronger and they have a voice,” she said.
Read more at World Bulletin.
http://www.arabianow.org/saudi-female-horse-trainer-societal-changes-underway/
KAU graduates first group of women engineers
Mar 13, 2017
Some of the women engineers who graduated with honors from King Abdulaziz University’s Women’s College of Electronic and Industrial Engineering. — Okaz photo
By Mishael Al-Ruwaili
JEDDAH — King Abdulaziz University celebrated the graduation of its first batch of female electrical and industrial engineers.
Hanaa Al-Naeem, dean of KAU’s Women’s College of Electronic and Industrial Engineering, congratulated the graduates and their parents for the achievement.
“The university has produced a new generation of graduates and future creators during its graduation ceremony. The ceremony included graduates from the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, College of Communications and Media, College of Design and Art, College of Computer Science and Information Technology, the Higher Education Institute and the English Language Institute,” said Al-Naeem.
She said the university equips the fresh graduates with various educational and vocational skills.
“The Women’s College of Electronic and Industrial Engineering gave women a chance to become pioneers in society. They will build society and break new grounds,” said Al-Naeem.
Ulla Al-Baity said she graduated from the college with honors.
“My colleagues and I are so proud to be the first batch of women graduating from the College of Electronic and Industrial Engineering from a public university. We can’t wait to prove our skills and capabilities in the workplace,” said Al-Baity.
Walaa Balamash said she also graduated with honors.
“We have a lot of challenges ahead of us. But we are confident that we will prove we deserve to be in the workplace as engineers,” said Balamash.
Rahaf Al-Harby said as a graduate of the Women’s College she is aware of the challenges in front of her.
“We are extremely proud and grateful to be the first batch of women graduating from a public university. We know that many other public universities will follow in our footsteps,” said Al-Harby.
http://saudigazette.com.sa/saudi-arabia/kau-graduates-first-group-women-engineers/
ORLANDO, U.S., December 07, 2016
Alanood Al-Rabiah is the first ever Arab woman to receive the award from the American Society of Industrial Security.
Alanood Al-Rabiah, group leader of Operational Excellence and Compliance in Saudi Aramco’s Industrial Security Support Department, recently received the Karen Marquez Memorial Honors women in security award.
The American Society of Industrial Security (ASIS) presented Al-Rabiah with the award during a ceremony in Florida, U.S. The award is given to security professionals who have consistently worked for the betterment of the security industry.
One of four women to receive the award in 2016, she is also the first Arab woman to ever receive the award. This impressive achievement was based on the evaluation of significant contributions Al-Rabiah made to the advancement of the security profession.
“I would like to thank my management in Saudi Aramco who have recommended me for this honor and will take this opportunity to support, promote and inspire other women working in the profession,” Al-Rabiah said. “It gives me great pleasure to see not only Saudi Aramco but also Saudi women being recognized for their boundless achievements.”
Jaber Al-Suhaimi, acting manager of the Industrial Security Support Department, commended Al-Rabiah, saying: “I praise Alanood for her fruitful contribution in industrial security. Her efforts have made her a role model in the security profession, inspiring women empowerment and development worldwide.”
ASIS International is the leading organization for security professionals worldwide. It contributes to the profession through a variety of programs and activities dedicated to increasing the effectiveness and productivity of security professionals.
http://www.saudiaramco.com/en/home/...-woman-to-win-prestigious-security-award.html
Women are taking the centre stage in Saudi Arabia
March 3, 2017:
A commercial bank in Saudi Arabia appointing a woman as a CEO; a woman becoming the dean of a renowned medical college; women and men attending the recent Comic Con event in Jeddah; Women-only gymnasiums gaining traction; celebration of first ever Women’s Day - Women in Saudi Arabia are well on their way to have similar rights as their male counterparts. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with a progressive leadership & a formative Vision 2030 document is fast becoming a society well in-sync with the developments of the rest of the world.
A traditional society with deep respect for its culture, values and its belief system, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, has an innate regard for the role of women in society.
One the biggest development has been in the financial sector. The financial sector is considered notorious around the world for its blatant disregard for gender parity – but in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, a lady has become the CEO of a commercial bank.
Also, most recently Dr. Dalal Moheealdin Namnaqani, the first Saudi woman was appointed as the dean of Taif University College of Medicine. Her appointment is seen as a big step in further inclusion of women in academia.
Saudi Arabia has made various changes over the last decade to liberalize the role of women in society. Prominent instances of this include adult franchise - enabling women to actively participate in the country’s political space, encouraging women to take a proactive role in the shaping of the economy, and taking legal measures to bring about an end to domestic violence – an endemic in many societies in the west.
A momentous occasion in the history of women’s rights in Saudi Arabia came when women were able to vote for the first time on December 13, 2015– a sign of progress. And not just vote, women could also participate in the entire process, projecting themselves as leaders.
A strong gender divide is prevalent across the world, but the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is taking giant strides in order to change the narrative of how women are held in society. The late King of Saudi Arabia King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud was lauded for his role in expanding women’s rights in Saudi Arabia.
Very recently, Saudi Arabia celebrated its first ever Women’s Day. It featured many a speaker who spoke on various issues around women empowerment in society. The event was also attended by Her Highness Princess Al-Jawhara bint Fahd Al Saud of the Royal family engaging in a nuanced discussion on the role of women in education.
20% of the seats in the advisory council that support the central government is allotted to women, and many a celebrated woman are already part of the council. In 2013, women became a formidable force in the Shura Council.
According to a report by McKinsey Global Institute, the economic profits of bridging the gender gap in Saudi Arabia has taken a positive turn. According to the report, it will eventually lead to a spike in their GDP by at least US $52 billion before 2025. Multiple steps have been taken to include women in the economic structure. This month, more than 10,000 Saudi women received technical training including ways to repair mobile phones – in an effort to improve their employment chances.
The Kingdom has also taken many a steps to ensure participation of women - including the introduction of a distance work scheme that allows women to work from home. Additionally, the Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Foundation (MiSK) recently launched an initiative to train women for leadership roles augmenting their management qualities which will eventually allow them to bring about positive influences at workplace.
In line with their ambitious social reform agenda ‘Vision 2030’, one of the goals of which is inclusion of women in the Saudi economy. Sarah Al-Suhaimi was appointed as the first ever women to chair the Saudi stock exchange along with Somayya Jabarti who will be the first ever woman to hold the rank of editor-in-chief in a Saudi news daily. To add to that, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Labor and Social Development has revealed a national policy for female employment that will provide more than 50,000 outsourcing job opportunities.
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is also bringing about various initiatives in order to make it easy for women to have a social, a political and an economic voice – as per some report, a woman no longer requires the male guardian’s permission to work. Authorities have given incentives to employers who allocate certain positions for women. Moreover, the Kingdom is providing hundreds of academic scholarships for women to study – in Saudi Arabia and abroad.
This week, Saudi Arabia hosted its first ever Comic Con event where both, men and women came together to share their love for comics, and other variants of pop culture.
This year’s Al Janadriyah festival also discussed various issues that plague women from across the world. To highlight the importance of women in society, Alwaleed Philanthropies - chaired by His Royal highness Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud – collaborated with the festival to display videos showing the journey of women and their struggle. After criminalizing domestic abuse in 2013, the government has also established a center whose primary task is to receive and respond to reports of domestic violence.
Saudi Arabia has worked and is constantly working to ease the access of women to services. In a landmark move, the government will begin issuing licenses for women-only gyms from this month to promote health and fitness among women.
With such enabling policies and initiatives, gender equality and empowerment are resonating well in Saudi Arabia
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com...ntre-stage-in-saudi-arabia/article9569336.ece
Saudi Arabian cardiologist honored in New York
10 March 2017
Dr. Rasha Fahd Al-Bawardi
A PROMINENT Saudi woman cardiologist who works for the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School was recently honored, along with 19 other Saudi women, by the Consulate General of Saudi Arabia in New York City.
Dr. Rasha Fahad Al-Bawardi was honored with 19 other Saudi women achievers by Saudi Consul General in New York Khalid Mohammad Al-Shareef. The ceremony, which took place as the world celebrated International Women’s Day, was attended by several consuls generals and diplomats.
Al-Bawardi was honored for her role in setting a great example for other Saudi women. She overcame numerous difficulties in medical school and found employment at Harvard University, one of the most prestigious institutions in the world. Today, she is a full-time professor at Harvard Medical School.
Thanking the Saudi mission in New York for giving her the award, Al-Bawardi said: “My mother taught us when we were little kids that there is nothing impossible and one can achieve anything they want if they set their minds to it.”
At a time when it was rare for foreign students to be admitted to US medical schools, Al-Bawardi secured a seat at George Washington University’s School of Medicine and Health Science due to her stellar academic credentials. She went on to earn an undergraduate degree in medical science and a graduate degree in genomics and bioinformatics from the same university. After that, she did her internship at Cleveland Clinic and then enrolled in Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York where she studied cardiology for three years.
“I conducted several research programs at the college. After that, I joined the Massachusetts General Hospital where I still work,” she said.
The scholarship program run by the Kingdom’s government allows Saudi students to realize their academic endeavors, said Al-Bawardi.
She added that she wants to serve her country by contributing to advancing medical research in the field of cardiology.
http://saudigazette.com.sa/saudi-arabia/saudi-cardiologist-honored-new-york/
Health and Wellness Gaining Traction Among Saudi Women
March 2017
Saudi women are increasingly stepping up as health and wellness leaders as sports advocates push for a more future of sports in the Kingdom that is all-inclusive and benefits all of society.
Princess Reema Bint Bandar Bin Sultan, undersecretary for the female section at the General Authority for Sports, met with Saudi women sports advocates in mid-February for a fruitful conversation that included a lengthy discussion about yoga and sports for the disabled.
Nouf Al-Marwaai, Honorary Secretary of the International Yoga Federation for Saudi Arabia and Arab Countries spoke about the importance of supporting yoga, which has several benefits for both physical and mental health. Al-Marwaai urged the Saudi government to get involved in promoting yoga, which is becoming increasingly popular among Saudi women of across all age groups.
In a sign that there is a great interest and demand for yoga, Al-Marwaai emphasized that she has taught yoga to approximately 8,000 students since 2005 and certified more than 150 teachers since 2008.
Princess Reema also held discussions with Faizah Natto, President of the Society for the Visually and Auditory Impaired, who talked about recent efforts to include people with disabilities into the wider Saudi community.
According to the Saudi Ministry of Economy and Planning, physical inactivity is a major health risk, common among adolescents with disabilities and often leading to other health issues such as obesity, making Natto’s perspective critical to discussions on increasing the accessibility of sports in the Kingdom.
Saudi Health and Wellness Leaders Aiding the Kingdom’s Transformation
Al-Marwaai and Natto are highly qualified, and offer a positive representation of contemporary Saudi women looking to serve society in their chosen professional fields. The position of Princess Reema as a leader in the emerging sector of women’s sports also demonstrates the enthusiasm of young women willing to step up and lead Saudi Arabia’s historic transformation under Vision 2030.
Read the full story on Saudi Gazette.
http://www.arabianow.org/health-wellness-traction-saudi-women/
This Saudi Female Horse Trainer is Charting the Societal Changes Underway
March 2017
While horses have been central to life in Saudi Arabia for centuries, women like horse trainer Dana al-Gosaibi, have found it difficult to pursue their passion for horses in the kingdom.
Saudi Arabia’s recent efforts to advance women’s rights, particularly toward women’s involvement in sports, gives Gosaibi hope that one day soon she will be able to realize her dream of opening her own stables.
Change is underway in the kingdom, Gosaibi noted. She returned to Saudi Arabia four years ago after living abroad for over a decade. She came back to find women working as cashiers, in sales and in offices.
In the last year, plans for social and economic reform have prompted even more opportunities for women. These plans include expanding sports opportunities for women and young people. Last year, the kingdom appointed Princess Reema bint Bandar al-Saud to oversee women’s sports and the Vision 2030 plan lays out increased opportunities for women to be involved in the economy.
Princess Reema said authorities would soon begin granting license for female-only gyms. Changes such as these create favorable condition for Gosaibi to start her own business.
Gosaibi’s stables would focus on more gentle methods for horse training than the standard approach in the male-dominated horse industry in the kingdom. However, she has faced resistance for her approach to working with the animals.
The traditional method for training horses in Saudi Arabia requires significant force, and utilizes spurs and whips. Gosaibi prefers to take time to observe and understand the horse, so she “becomes part of the horse’s herd.”
“You need to establish a certain relationship and understanding because the horse needs to trust you,” she said.
Gosaibi keeps two horses at a stable in Jeddha, where she is able to shed her traditional abayah in favor of a baseball cap, trousers and riding boots. Both men and other women use the stables. Gosaibi added that progress is happening in Saudi Arabia: “Women are becoming stronger and they have a voice,” she said.
Read more at World Bulletin.
http://www.arabianow.org/saudi-female-horse-trainer-societal-changes-underway/
KAU graduates first group of women engineers
Mar 13, 2017
Some of the women engineers who graduated with honors from King Abdulaziz University’s Women’s College of Electronic and Industrial Engineering. — Okaz photo
By Mishael Al-Ruwaili
JEDDAH — King Abdulaziz University celebrated the graduation of its first batch of female electrical and industrial engineers.
Hanaa Al-Naeem, dean of KAU’s Women’s College of Electronic and Industrial Engineering, congratulated the graduates and their parents for the achievement.
“The university has produced a new generation of graduates and future creators during its graduation ceremony. The ceremony included graduates from the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, College of Communications and Media, College of Design and Art, College of Computer Science and Information Technology, the Higher Education Institute and the English Language Institute,” said Al-Naeem.
She said the university equips the fresh graduates with various educational and vocational skills.
“The Women’s College of Electronic and Industrial Engineering gave women a chance to become pioneers in society. They will build society and break new grounds,” said Al-Naeem.
Ulla Al-Baity said she graduated from the college with honors.
“My colleagues and I are so proud to be the first batch of women graduating from the College of Electronic and Industrial Engineering from a public university. We can’t wait to prove our skills and capabilities in the workplace,” said Al-Baity.
Walaa Balamash said she also graduated with honors.
“We have a lot of challenges ahead of us. But we are confident that we will prove we deserve to be in the workplace as engineers,” said Balamash.
Rahaf Al-Harby said as a graduate of the Women’s College she is aware of the challenges in front of her.
“We are extremely proud and grateful to be the first batch of women graduating from a public university. We know that many other public universities will follow in our footsteps,” said Al-Harby.
http://saudigazette.com.sa/saudi-arabia/kau-graduates-first-group-women-engineers/
Saif al-Arab
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Saudi women meet to address changing role
Mar 12, 2017
RIYADH — Saudi women from adventurers to inventors are hoping a unique conference in Riyadh on Saturday will highlight their changing role and inspire younger women to push for new opportunities in the kingdom.
The event comes at a time when reforms are slowly changing women’s lives. In Saudi Arabia, women live under the supervision of a male guardian and cannot drive.
Women can now sit on the government advisory Shoura Council, vote in municipal elections, and work in some retail and hospitality jobs with the government’s Vision 2030 trying to diversify the oil-reliant economy by boosting female employment.
The one-day conference run by Alwaleed Philanthropies, a charitable group working to help women, will see Saudi women from various walks of life on the stage alongside international speakers such as British women’s rights campaigner Cherie Blair.
One speaker, Raha Moharrak, 31, who made history in 2013 as the first Saudi woman to climb Mount Everest, said girls in Saudi Arabia must be taught that they are not less than boys.
“My journey started as a mini rebellion… I wanted to shock my parents,”said Moharrak, who was determined to do something different after studying abroad and won her reluctant father over by email explaining why climbing was important to her.”
Other speakers include Hadeel Ayoub who invented a smart glove that converts sign language to text and writer Kawthar Al Arbash whose son was killed in 2015 trying to stop a suicide bomber.
Princess Lamia Bint Majed Al Saud, secretary general of Alwaleed Philanthropies, said the conference, with the slogan “Saudi Women Can”, was part of a campaign to draw attention to Saudi women’s achievements and inspire the next generation.
After the conference – which she hopes to make annual – a microsite SaudiWomenCan.com with a mobile app will issue daily motivational quotes, while other initiatives are planned.
“I want to give the younger generation role models to show them that, no matter what obstacles, there are opportunities and give them stories to inspire them,” Princess Lamia told the Thomson Reuters Foundation which is partnering with the charity to provide training for Saudi journalists on women’s issues.
Speaker Eqbal Darandari, associate professor at King Saud University who was elected to the Shoura Council in 2016, said it was important women learned responsibility and leadership.
“We need to teach females to be stronger .. to make change, to work on their own,”said Darandari, adding the biggest progress would come if women were given decision making roles.
“We are achieving things but not as fast as we would like. But this is a problem not from the top but from down, from the people, as what is needed is social change and that is slow.”
Moharrak, a graphic designer, said women need to get the support of their fathers and brothers for real change to happen.
“All the women who have managed to achieve independence have two things in common: a firm heart and an understanding father. We don’t grow up with an easy path but no-one wants to be disowned or disrespect their father,”she said. — Reuters
http://saudigazette.com.sa/business/saudi-women-meet-address-changing-role/
Saudi women in technology seek ways to lead
Mar 10, 2017
By Layan Damanhouri
RIYADH – Women of various specialties in the IT sector gathered on Wednesday at the Women Spark, an initiative by Microsoft in cooperation with Alawwal Bank that aims to promote innovation and excellence in the career development of women.
“In Saudi Arabia, female graduates in the IT sector are more than half. We see them working in different specialties,” says Deemah Alyahya, executive director of the Developer Experience and Digital Innovation at Microsoft. “I do see major improvements in females in IT.”
Attendance of females is usually higher in events and training, she notes, an indication that there is a passion and willingness to be more visible in the field.
“The challenge is for women to lead positions in senior management. A lot of females continue to become independent contributors and come to a plateau,” says Alyahya who is the first Saudi female to hold an executive position at Microsoft. “They don’t increase their skills because either they don’t have the confidence to become a CTO or CIO.”
Asked about her role in empower women in the industry, she told Saudi Gazette: “My ambition is to empower women in IT in the Kingdom. As a Saudi IT professional, I feel obligated to support other females in this sector and to enable them with knowledge, networking, software, skills, and whatever they need for them to grow. That’s why I created Women’s Spark and want it to expand it more to females in other sectors because we are now going through a digital transformation in all fields and specialties.”
After three years of the initiative, this year alone Women Spark graduated 30 female cloud experts and architects.
Women in various fields shared success stories and discussed ways to collaborate.
Budoor Ashadawi, who is acting manager of an e-commerce store by day and runs her own entrepreneurship venture by night, says women need to empower each other. “Women can do anything they believe in,” she told Saudi Gazette.
Ashadawi hired a majority of her staff Saudi female graduates. “It wasn’t easy but I feel I have an obligation to give back,” she says. “I found that females are not only hard workers, they are loyal and dedicated.”
Young engineer Aljawharah Alqahtani founded Fixtag, a business in repairing mobile phones. “Girls can do anything from fixing to creating things,” she said commenting on the male-dominated sector of mobile repairing.
Sara Oulddaddah, a leading female gamer in the Kingdom, says there is a community reaching up to 15,000 gamers and developers. She says, “We need to empower each other. In the gaming industry, we have amazing developers, artists and talents. I’m hoping to have an industry to have all these ladies to work together.”
http://saudigazette.com.sa/technology/saudi-women-technology-seek-ways-lead/
GE to bridge gender gap with 50:50 representation of women in technical roles
Mar 8, 2017
Today GE has over 100 women, in addition to over 600 women who work at the all-female business process center opened by GE in association with Saudi Aramco and TCS in Riyadh. — Courtesy photo
Riyadh — In keeping with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 and its strategic goal, General Electric (GE) announced on Tuesday its plan of achieving 50:50 representation of women for all its technical entry-level programs in the region, especially in engineering, manufacturing, information technology and product management roles.
The strategy reflects GE’s global initiative to have 20,000 women to fill STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) roles in the organization by 2020, said a press release. It also complements the ongoing initiatives of GE in the region to strengthen the participation of women in its workforce.
In 2009, GE had no women on its team in Saudi Arabia. But today there are over 100, in addition to over 600 women who work at the all-female business process center opened by GE in association with Saudi Aramco and TCS in Riyadh. The goal is to hire 3,000 women for the center in the coming years.
“Saudi Vision 2030 has set the target of women representing 30 percent of the workforce, and we are supporting the goal, with a clear outlook to hire and nurture women in technical roles,” said Hisham Al Bahkali, GE’s President & Chief Executive Officer for Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
“Statistics show that 50% of university graduates in Saudi Arabia are female yet only 22% are represented in the workforce. We are committed to making a difference with our new strategic initiative,” he said.
GE has also signed an MoU with the Asharqia Chamber of Commerce in Dammam to train 1000 women over the next five years at GE Garages facility. The training has commenced, with workshops on coding, 3D printing, and 3D modelling, to enhance digital industrial skills of women in industry.
Nabil Habayeb, GE’s President & Chief Executive Officer for the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey, said: “Our focus has always been to create a truly inclusive culture, fostering a climate that enables women’s employment and leadership. Our focus on 50:50 representation catalyzes our own transformation as a digital industrial company.”
GE has launched a white paper that highlights the economic opportunity of addressing gender imbalance across the sector. It states that women are still under-represented in the technology sector with 13-24% represented in IT and engineering positions globally, and just 17-30% ascending to senior leadership positions. While women tend to outnumber men in higher education (55% to 45%), STEM education drops significantly.
GE Chief Economist Marco Annunziata said: “Unless we bring more women into technology and manufacturing, there will be a significant negative economic impact on the sector. This is a problem for business to actively address.”
http://saudigazette.com.sa/saudi-ar...ap-5050-representation-women-technical-roles/
Mar 12, 2017
RIYADH — Saudi women from adventurers to inventors are hoping a unique conference in Riyadh on Saturday will highlight their changing role and inspire younger women to push for new opportunities in the kingdom.
The event comes at a time when reforms are slowly changing women’s lives. In Saudi Arabia, women live under the supervision of a male guardian and cannot drive.
Women can now sit on the government advisory Shoura Council, vote in municipal elections, and work in some retail and hospitality jobs with the government’s Vision 2030 trying to diversify the oil-reliant economy by boosting female employment.
The one-day conference run by Alwaleed Philanthropies, a charitable group working to help women, will see Saudi women from various walks of life on the stage alongside international speakers such as British women’s rights campaigner Cherie Blair.
One speaker, Raha Moharrak, 31, who made history in 2013 as the first Saudi woman to climb Mount Everest, said girls in Saudi Arabia must be taught that they are not less than boys.
“My journey started as a mini rebellion… I wanted to shock my parents,”said Moharrak, who was determined to do something different after studying abroad and won her reluctant father over by email explaining why climbing was important to her.”
Other speakers include Hadeel Ayoub who invented a smart glove that converts sign language to text and writer Kawthar Al Arbash whose son was killed in 2015 trying to stop a suicide bomber.
Princess Lamia Bint Majed Al Saud, secretary general of Alwaleed Philanthropies, said the conference, with the slogan “Saudi Women Can”, was part of a campaign to draw attention to Saudi women’s achievements and inspire the next generation.
After the conference – which she hopes to make annual – a microsite SaudiWomenCan.com with a mobile app will issue daily motivational quotes, while other initiatives are planned.
“I want to give the younger generation role models to show them that, no matter what obstacles, there are opportunities and give them stories to inspire them,” Princess Lamia told the Thomson Reuters Foundation which is partnering with the charity to provide training for Saudi journalists on women’s issues.
Speaker Eqbal Darandari, associate professor at King Saud University who was elected to the Shoura Council in 2016, said it was important women learned responsibility and leadership.
“We need to teach females to be stronger .. to make change, to work on their own,”said Darandari, adding the biggest progress would come if women were given decision making roles.
“We are achieving things but not as fast as we would like. But this is a problem not from the top but from down, from the people, as what is needed is social change and that is slow.”
Moharrak, a graphic designer, said women need to get the support of their fathers and brothers for real change to happen.
“All the women who have managed to achieve independence have two things in common: a firm heart and an understanding father. We don’t grow up with an easy path but no-one wants to be disowned or disrespect their father,”she said. — Reuters
http://saudigazette.com.sa/business/saudi-women-meet-address-changing-role/
Saudi women in technology seek ways to lead
Mar 10, 2017
By Layan Damanhouri
RIYADH – Women of various specialties in the IT sector gathered on Wednesday at the Women Spark, an initiative by Microsoft in cooperation with Alawwal Bank that aims to promote innovation and excellence in the career development of women.
“In Saudi Arabia, female graduates in the IT sector are more than half. We see them working in different specialties,” says Deemah Alyahya, executive director of the Developer Experience and Digital Innovation at Microsoft. “I do see major improvements in females in IT.”
Attendance of females is usually higher in events and training, she notes, an indication that there is a passion and willingness to be more visible in the field.
“The challenge is for women to lead positions in senior management. A lot of females continue to become independent contributors and come to a plateau,” says Alyahya who is the first Saudi female to hold an executive position at Microsoft. “They don’t increase their skills because either they don’t have the confidence to become a CTO or CIO.”
Asked about her role in empower women in the industry, she told Saudi Gazette: “My ambition is to empower women in IT in the Kingdom. As a Saudi IT professional, I feel obligated to support other females in this sector and to enable them with knowledge, networking, software, skills, and whatever they need for them to grow. That’s why I created Women’s Spark and want it to expand it more to females in other sectors because we are now going through a digital transformation in all fields and specialties.”
After three years of the initiative, this year alone Women Spark graduated 30 female cloud experts and architects.
Women in various fields shared success stories and discussed ways to collaborate.
Budoor Ashadawi, who is acting manager of an e-commerce store by day and runs her own entrepreneurship venture by night, says women need to empower each other. “Women can do anything they believe in,” she told Saudi Gazette.
Ashadawi hired a majority of her staff Saudi female graduates. “It wasn’t easy but I feel I have an obligation to give back,” she says. “I found that females are not only hard workers, they are loyal and dedicated.”
Young engineer Aljawharah Alqahtani founded Fixtag, a business in repairing mobile phones. “Girls can do anything from fixing to creating things,” she said commenting on the male-dominated sector of mobile repairing.
Sara Oulddaddah, a leading female gamer in the Kingdom, says there is a community reaching up to 15,000 gamers and developers. She says, “We need to empower each other. In the gaming industry, we have amazing developers, artists and talents. I’m hoping to have an industry to have all these ladies to work together.”
http://saudigazette.com.sa/technology/saudi-women-technology-seek-ways-lead/
GE to bridge gender gap with 50:50 representation of women in technical roles
Mar 8, 2017
Today GE has over 100 women, in addition to over 600 women who work at the all-female business process center opened by GE in association with Saudi Aramco and TCS in Riyadh. — Courtesy photo
Riyadh — In keeping with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 and its strategic goal, General Electric (GE) announced on Tuesday its plan of achieving 50:50 representation of women for all its technical entry-level programs in the region, especially in engineering, manufacturing, information technology and product management roles.
The strategy reflects GE’s global initiative to have 20,000 women to fill STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) roles in the organization by 2020, said a press release. It also complements the ongoing initiatives of GE in the region to strengthen the participation of women in its workforce.
In 2009, GE had no women on its team in Saudi Arabia. But today there are over 100, in addition to over 600 women who work at the all-female business process center opened by GE in association with Saudi Aramco and TCS in Riyadh. The goal is to hire 3,000 women for the center in the coming years.
“Saudi Vision 2030 has set the target of women representing 30 percent of the workforce, and we are supporting the goal, with a clear outlook to hire and nurture women in technical roles,” said Hisham Al Bahkali, GE’s President & Chief Executive Officer for Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
“Statistics show that 50% of university graduates in Saudi Arabia are female yet only 22% are represented in the workforce. We are committed to making a difference with our new strategic initiative,” he said.
GE has also signed an MoU with the Asharqia Chamber of Commerce in Dammam to train 1000 women over the next five years at GE Garages facility. The training has commenced, with workshops on coding, 3D printing, and 3D modelling, to enhance digital industrial skills of women in industry.
Nabil Habayeb, GE’s President & Chief Executive Officer for the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey, said: “Our focus has always been to create a truly inclusive culture, fostering a climate that enables women’s employment and leadership. Our focus on 50:50 representation catalyzes our own transformation as a digital industrial company.”
GE has launched a white paper that highlights the economic opportunity of addressing gender imbalance across the sector. It states that women are still under-represented in the technology sector with 13-24% represented in IT and engineering positions globally, and just 17-30% ascending to senior leadership positions. While women tend to outnumber men in higher education (55% to 45%), STEM education drops significantly.
GE Chief Economist Marco Annunziata said: “Unless we bring more women into technology and manufacturing, there will be a significant negative economic impact on the sector. This is a problem for business to actively address.”
http://saudigazette.com.sa/saudi-ar...ap-5050-representation-women-technical-roles/
Saif al-Arab
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Saudi to boost ‘decent and proper’ jobs for women and the disabled
Saudi women queue outside the "convention hall" at Princess Noura bint Abdulrahman University in the Saudi capital Riyadh on October 6, 2016. (File photo: AFP)
AFP, Riyadh
Wednesday, 15 March 2017
Saudi Arabia is aiming for a major boost in female employment in the conservative Islamic kingdom but women need not go to an office, the labor ministry said.
“Telework” and work from home will generate up to 141,000 jobs by 2020, providing “decent and proper” employment particularly for women and the disabled, the ministry said in a statement dated Monday.
The term “telework” applies to a variety of jobs done remotely outside of a company’s office.
As part of a wide-ranging social and economic reform drive to cope with lower oil revenues, Saudi Arabia is trying to get more women working.
But the ministry statement acknowledged “a lot of social obstacles including transportation and family responsibilities” that hinder female labor market participation.
The ministry said telework would also benefit those in remote parts of the kingdom where employment is even harder to find, but it gave no details of who exactly is going to create the 141,000 jobs.
Under its Vision 2030 reform plan the kingdom wants to boost the role of small and medium enterprises as well as broaden its industrial and investment base.
By 2020 the kingdom wants to boost the proportion of women in the workforce to 28 percent from 23 percent last year.
According to official data, at the end of 2015 the Saudi public sector employed 469,000 women while another 500,000 worked in the private sector, which the government wants to expand while reducing its own payroll.
Last Update: Wednesday, 15 March 2017 KSA 14:09 - GMT 11:09
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/bu...-proper-jobs-for-women-and-the-disabled-.html
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/blo...-forefront-of-polymer-chemistry-research.html
There has been celebrations all over Saudi social media blogs over the extraordinary accomplishments of a female Saudi scientist. They have hailed the scientific achievements of Dr. Ghada Almutarie.
Saudis and many Arab social media surfers painted Ghada as pride of all Arabs and Muslims, asserting the worthiness of her research to future Nobel Prize nomination. During Friday prayers, Minister Sheikh Adnan Ibrahim described Ghada as “pride for the entire nation that will change the world of medical care”.
However, despite the adulation, Saudis have expressed disappointment over the manner in which Ghada, and other Saudi female scientists, has been presented in Saudi and Arab media. The demand is that scientists should get the same, if not more, attention as celebrities.
Research outputs of Ghada are no stranger in an era of Saudi women glory. Saud Alyumni tweeted that “Ghada is a reborn of the Arab woman, one that would redefine the Arab woman forever”.
Despite the stereotypes surrounding the country, Saudi Arabia is home to some highly influential women in the world. Stories of successful female scientists, scholars and businesswomen surface in the desert Kingdom all the time.
Hayat Sendi, a UNESCO goodwill ambassador for science education and UN Secretary General Scientific Advisor, Thoraya Obaid, the 2001 Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Khawla Alkhuraya; a leading genomic cancer researcher, Huda Alghuson,Saudi Aramco Excutive Director of Human resources, and many others are taking the lead in many domestic and international institutions.
Ghada Almutairi is a Saudi polymer chemist. However, she chooses to introduce herself as a “nano- constructor” or “plastic surgeon”. Since an early age, she prepared herself to qualify for major global challenges. Her problem solving skills always hold her in good stead while facing challenges in her personal and professional lives.
Coming from a family of scientists, Ghada’s dreams knows no limits. Soon after completing her high school in Jeddah, she moved to the US to obtain her undergraduate and graduate degrees. But high certificates were never going to satisfy Ghada’s ambitions. Soon, she entered the University of California, San Diego (UCSD).
Professor Almutairi has been a faculty member at the University of UCSD since 2008. She is the director of UCSD’s Center of Excellence in Nanomedicine, a rapidly expanding interdisciplinary research collaborative team developing tools for the future of biology and medicine. Her primary appointment is in the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, and she is a member of the departments of NanoEngineering, and Radiology.
Her novel inventions mark the perfect match between chemistry and medical sciences. Once described by fellow scientists as “elegant impractical chemistry”, Ghada’s numerous researches led to a revolution in today’s medical world.
Smart polymers
Ghada’s innovative spirit led her to merge various fields for the good of humanity. Together with her brother, a plastic surgeon, and the FDA, she is now working to develop human clinical trials for a better way to perform liposuction. But Ghada’s biggest achievement at UCSD is probably best known for designing and developing smart polymers, nanoparticles and hydrogels for many innovative medical and research applications.
At a conference in Berlin recently, Almutairi announced her most recent research based on merging light-activated nanoparticles and lanthanides to increase sufficiency of solar energy.
But solar energy and desalination won’t be the end of Ghada’s creativity. The vast array of practical uses of her research — touching on everything from diabetes to MRI imaging — draws great interest from pharmaceutical, cosmetic, chemical and energy companies all over the world.
Major companies like Dow, Merck, L’Oréal, biologists, engineers and everyone seem excited about Almutairi’s work can be implemented.
Almutairi’s work has won her numerous awards and given her access to funds including: UC Dissertation Award, UC Presidential Postdoctoral Fellowship, PhRMA Foundation Starter Grant, and NIH New Innovator Award.
But Almutairi’s dedication to her work never let her lose her true identity. “I owe everything in my life to my parents, family and my country, Saudi Arabia, which I indescribably love,” Ghada says in a recent interview in Al-Riyadh newspaper.
“The Saudi King has always been keen on developing our beloved country and people. Our Saudi youth has all potential for success, only if executives facilitate the appropriate environment and support for them,” she adds.
SAUDI ARABIA
35,000 Saudi women studying abroad on government scholarships
ARAB NEWS | Published — Tuesday 11 April 2017
A Saudi scholarship student in US speaks to Saudi Press Agency. (SPA file photo).
JEDDAH: Some 35,000 Saudi women are studying abroad in 60 countries on government scholarships, said Shoura member Huda Al-Hulaisi, adding that Vision 2030 is based on the role of women and youths.
She noted the gains of Saudi women in recent years as they have become members of the Shoura Council and municipal councils.
Saudi women in 2015 constituted 51.8 percent of university students in the Kingdom, she said, adding that employing women and increasing their proportion of the labor market from the current 22 percent to 30 percent is a priority for the state
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1082551/saudi-arabia
Saudi Women are Redefining Their Roles
March 2017
Princess Lamia bint Majed Al-Saud addresses the Saudi Women Can conference. Photo Credit: Alwaleed Philanthropies
On March 8, a group of Saudi women marked International Women’s Day by unveiling a campaign to highlight the changing role and economic potential of women in the Kingdom.
Since 2011, when the late King Abdullah declared that women would be allowed and encouraged to join the government advisory Shura Council, the situation for women in Saudi Arabia has begun to evolve past what can be considered stereotypical Western perceptions of their roles in society.
“It is the right time…we are more aware of the importance of women’s participation in jobs, in different sectors,” Princess Lamia bin Majed Al Saud, secretary general of Alwaleed Philanthropies – a charity aiming to empower women – told Thomson Reuters Foundation.
She added, “Women have achieve a lot in our country and we are very proud of this, achievements the outside community does not know about. Like any other country we have obstacles, we acknowledge that…but we are doing our best to make it better.”
Saudi Women Featured Prominently in Saudi Arabia’s Future
Last year, Saudi Arabia released Vision 2030, which outlined the government’s plan to develop women’s talents by enabling them to play a greater role in the economy.
As Deputy Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman lays out in the foreward to the plan:
“We commit ourselves to providing world-class government services which effectively and efficiently meet the needs of our citizens. Together we will continue building a better country, fulfilling our dream of prosperity and unlocking the talent, potential, and dedication of our young men and women. We will not allow our country ever to be at the mercy of a commodity price volatility or external markets. We have all the means to achieve our dreams and ambitions. There are no excuses for us to stand still or move backwards.
Our Vision is a strong, thriving and stable Saudi Arabia that provides opportunity for all.”
As Saudi Arabia sprints toward a future that includes prosperity and increased economic freedom, it is clear that Saudi women will no longer be left behind.
Read the full story on Reuters.
http://www.arabianow.org/saudi-women-redefining-roles/
Saudi women queue outside the "convention hall" at Princess Noura bint Abdulrahman University in the Saudi capital Riyadh on October 6, 2016. (File photo: AFP)
AFP, Riyadh
Wednesday, 15 March 2017
Saudi Arabia is aiming for a major boost in female employment in the conservative Islamic kingdom but women need not go to an office, the labor ministry said.
“Telework” and work from home will generate up to 141,000 jobs by 2020, providing “decent and proper” employment particularly for women and the disabled, the ministry said in a statement dated Monday.
The term “telework” applies to a variety of jobs done remotely outside of a company’s office.
As part of a wide-ranging social and economic reform drive to cope with lower oil revenues, Saudi Arabia is trying to get more women working.
But the ministry statement acknowledged “a lot of social obstacles including transportation and family responsibilities” that hinder female labor market participation.
The ministry said telework would also benefit those in remote parts of the kingdom where employment is even harder to find, but it gave no details of who exactly is going to create the 141,000 jobs.
Under its Vision 2030 reform plan the kingdom wants to boost the role of small and medium enterprises as well as broaden its industrial and investment base.
By 2020 the kingdom wants to boost the proportion of women in the workforce to 28 percent from 23 percent last year.
According to official data, at the end of 2015 the Saudi public sector employed 469,000 women while another 500,000 worked in the private sector, which the government wants to expand while reducing its own payroll.
Last Update: Wednesday, 15 March 2017 KSA 14:09 - GMT 11:09
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/bu...-proper-jobs-for-women-and-the-disabled-.html
Saudi Arabian woman scientist at the forefront of polymer chemistry research
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/blo...-forefront-of-polymer-chemistry-research.html
There has been celebrations all over Saudi social media blogs over the extraordinary accomplishments of a female Saudi scientist. They have hailed the scientific achievements of Dr. Ghada Almutarie.
Saudis and many Arab social media surfers painted Ghada as pride of all Arabs and Muslims, asserting the worthiness of her research to future Nobel Prize nomination. During Friday prayers, Minister Sheikh Adnan Ibrahim described Ghada as “pride for the entire nation that will change the world of medical care”.
However, despite the adulation, Saudis have expressed disappointment over the manner in which Ghada, and other Saudi female scientists, has been presented in Saudi and Arab media. The demand is that scientists should get the same, if not more, attention as celebrities.
Research outputs of Ghada are no stranger in an era of Saudi women glory. Saud Alyumni tweeted that “Ghada is a reborn of the Arab woman, one that would redefine the Arab woman forever”.
Despite the stereotypes surrounding the country, Saudi Arabia is home to some highly influential women in the world. Stories of successful female scientists, scholars and businesswomen surface in the desert Kingdom all the time.
Hayat Sendi, a UNESCO goodwill ambassador for science education and UN Secretary General Scientific Advisor, Thoraya Obaid, the 2001 Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Khawla Alkhuraya; a leading genomic cancer researcher, Huda Alghuson,Saudi Aramco Excutive Director of Human resources, and many others are taking the lead in many domestic and international institutions.
Ghada Almutairi is a Saudi polymer chemist. However, she chooses to introduce herself as a “nano- constructor” or “plastic surgeon”. Since an early age, she prepared herself to qualify for major global challenges. Her problem solving skills always hold her in good stead while facing challenges in her personal and professional lives.
Coming from a family of scientists, Ghada’s dreams knows no limits. Soon after completing her high school in Jeddah, she moved to the US to obtain her undergraduate and graduate degrees. But high certificates were never going to satisfy Ghada’s ambitions. Soon, she entered the University of California, San Diego (UCSD).
Professor Almutairi has been a faculty member at the University of UCSD since 2008. She is the director of UCSD’s Center of Excellence in Nanomedicine, a rapidly expanding interdisciplinary research collaborative team developing tools for the future of biology and medicine. Her primary appointment is in the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, and she is a member of the departments of NanoEngineering, and Radiology.
Her novel inventions mark the perfect match between chemistry and medical sciences. Once described by fellow scientists as “elegant impractical chemistry”, Ghada’s numerous researches led to a revolution in today’s medical world.
Smart polymers
Ghada’s innovative spirit led her to merge various fields for the good of humanity. Together with her brother, a plastic surgeon, and the FDA, she is now working to develop human clinical trials for a better way to perform liposuction. But Ghada’s biggest achievement at UCSD is probably best known for designing and developing smart polymers, nanoparticles and hydrogels for many innovative medical and research applications.
At a conference in Berlin recently, Almutairi announced her most recent research based on merging light-activated nanoparticles and lanthanides to increase sufficiency of solar energy.
But solar energy and desalination won’t be the end of Ghada’s creativity. The vast array of practical uses of her research — touching on everything from diabetes to MRI imaging — draws great interest from pharmaceutical, cosmetic, chemical and energy companies all over the world.
Major companies like Dow, Merck, L’Oréal, biologists, engineers and everyone seem excited about Almutairi’s work can be implemented.
Almutairi’s work has won her numerous awards and given her access to funds including: UC Dissertation Award, UC Presidential Postdoctoral Fellowship, PhRMA Foundation Starter Grant, and NIH New Innovator Award.
But Almutairi’s dedication to her work never let her lose her true identity. “I owe everything in my life to my parents, family and my country, Saudi Arabia, which I indescribably love,” Ghada says in a recent interview in Al-Riyadh newspaper.
“The Saudi King has always been keen on developing our beloved country and people. Our Saudi youth has all potential for success, only if executives facilitate the appropriate environment and support for them,” she adds.
SAUDI ARABIA
35,000 Saudi women studying abroad on government scholarships
ARAB NEWS | Published — Tuesday 11 April 2017
A Saudi scholarship student in US speaks to Saudi Press Agency. (SPA file photo).
JEDDAH: Some 35,000 Saudi women are studying abroad in 60 countries on government scholarships, said Shoura member Huda Al-Hulaisi, adding that Vision 2030 is based on the role of women and youths.
She noted the gains of Saudi women in recent years as they have become members of the Shoura Council and municipal councils.
Saudi women in 2015 constituted 51.8 percent of university students in the Kingdom, she said, adding that employing women and increasing their proportion of the labor market from the current 22 percent to 30 percent is a priority for the state
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1082551/saudi-arabia
Saudi Women are Redefining Their Roles
March 2017
Princess Lamia bint Majed Al-Saud addresses the Saudi Women Can conference. Photo Credit: Alwaleed Philanthropies
On March 8, a group of Saudi women marked International Women’s Day by unveiling a campaign to highlight the changing role and economic potential of women in the Kingdom.
Since 2011, when the late King Abdullah declared that women would be allowed and encouraged to join the government advisory Shura Council, the situation for women in Saudi Arabia has begun to evolve past what can be considered stereotypical Western perceptions of their roles in society.
“It is the right time…we are more aware of the importance of women’s participation in jobs, in different sectors,” Princess Lamia bin Majed Al Saud, secretary general of Alwaleed Philanthropies – a charity aiming to empower women – told Thomson Reuters Foundation.
She added, “Women have achieve a lot in our country and we are very proud of this, achievements the outside community does not know about. Like any other country we have obstacles, we acknowledge that…but we are doing our best to make it better.”
Saudi Women Featured Prominently in Saudi Arabia’s Future
Last year, Saudi Arabia released Vision 2030, which outlined the government’s plan to develop women’s talents by enabling them to play a greater role in the economy.
As Deputy Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman lays out in the foreward to the plan:
“We commit ourselves to providing world-class government services which effectively and efficiently meet the needs of our citizens. Together we will continue building a better country, fulfilling our dream of prosperity and unlocking the talent, potential, and dedication of our young men and women. We will not allow our country ever to be at the mercy of a commodity price volatility or external markets. We have all the means to achieve our dreams and ambitions. There are no excuses for us to stand still or move backwards.
Our Vision is a strong, thriving and stable Saudi Arabia that provides opportunity for all.”
As Saudi Arabia sprints toward a future that includes prosperity and increased economic freedom, it is clear that Saudi women will no longer be left behind.
Read the full story on Reuters.
http://www.arabianow.org/saudi-women-redefining-roles/
The SC
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I have played with advanced Geometry, Islamic architecture and Calligraphy for a while with mathematical models..it was fascinating and Fun.. it was a hobby for some time..So I appreciate these works of art..I hope that she can give the worst of our Mullah's a scorpion kick.
Meet the Saudi Arabian artist who blends Islamic calligraphy with geometry
'Al Hay’ (Photo credit: Lulwah al-Homoud)
By Miles Lawrence Special to Al Arabiya EnglishThursday, 7 April 2016
Text size Abu Dhabi Louvre museum.
However, people are often less aware of the thriving art scene in Saudi Arabia. While particularly strong in the western coastal city of Jeddah, the capital Riyadh also has its fair share of art galleries and studios.
Stepping through the doors of the Naila Gallery for the opening of Lulwah al-Homoud’s retrospective “Sublime,” there was a palpable energy in the air, with a vibrant mix of men and women, young and old, Saudi and non-Saudi.
Homoud is an artist, designer, curator, and founder of Dubai-based gallery and initiative Cube Arts.
Her work reframes traditional Islamic geometry and calligraphy using techniques such as silkscreen printing, painting and gilding.
Lulwah al-Homoud. (Photo credit: Isaa Al Kindi)
Labels
Homoud considers herself an artist first - the labels ‘female’ and ‘Saudi’ are secondary. “I don’t see why it should be important to be female,” she told Al Arabiya English.
“I don’t like to segregate female or male. An artist is an artist, and that’s it. It’s about being a creative human being.
“Every woman has to develop what she has. It’s not about fame, it’s about being satisfied with your life and having meaning in it.
“I’m not the sort of person who likes people complaining, because if you’re busy doing things you won’t have time to complain.”
'Sublime' exhibition opening (Photo credit: Lulwah al-Homoud)
That ‘do-it-yourself’ attitude served her well when she was studying for her MA in visual communication design at Central St Martin’s in London.
“I did my research through interviews because I didn’t like what people wrote about Islamic art in books,” she says.
“I thought [Islamic art] wasn’t understood well, so I told my teachers, ‘I don’t like the references, I’ll interview scholars.’
“They told me I’d either get an excellent dissertation or a fail. I told them, ‘I’m going to do it.’ Did it work out in the end? Of course.”
Influences
One person she interviewed for her MA, whom she cites as a major influence on her work, is Lebanese artist and calligrapher Samir al-Sayegh.
Other influences include Dutch artist MC Escher, and 11th-century philosophers of Islamic civilization during the Abbasid period, when they developed new language and writing systems, as well as maths.
Other Arab artists to look out for at the moment, Homoud says, are Ismael al-Refaei (Syrian), Nja Mehdoui (Tunisian), Hazem el-Mestikawy (Egyptian) and Mohammed Syam (Saudi).
Islamic art
Speaking about why geometry and calligraphy are so central to classical Islamic art, she says: “I think it’s the only way to represent sophisticated ideas. If you look at Picasso, Matisse, Paul Klee, Mondrian, at the end of their lives when they became more spiritual, they went more to lines and shapes - they weren’t drawing people anymore.
“With the Islamic period, they started with the abstract because they were talking about the universe.
“It had to be abstract because it’s representing something spiritual. So the less comprehensive, the more depth in the work.”
Much of the “Sublime” exhibition focuses on Islamic or spiritual themes, the piece-de-resistance being “The Language of Existence,” a series of towering blue canvases featuring exploding silver geometric patterns, each of which is a graphical representation of one of the 99 Arabic names of God.
In another series, “Growing Cubes,” the pattern was formed out of angular calligraphic writing denoting the names of God.
“Art is spiritual, but when you’re not talking about yourself,” she says. “That’s why the exhibition is called ‘Sublime,’ because you’re somewhere higher than your inner self.
“It doesn’t speak about specific experiences, feelings or suffering. It talks about something bigger than us, about creation, about the creator.”
Cube Dot (Photo credit: Lulwah al-Homoud)
The cubes that feature so prominently in her work hold religious significance for the artist. They embody the Kaaba, the cuboid structure at the center of the Holy Mosque in Makkah, toward which Muslims worldwide face when they pray.
“The Kaaba is the center of so many things,” she says. “It’s the center of different civilizations."
Knowledge
Homoud talks keenly about reading and the search for knowledge. Some artists like to go to a particular place to find inspiration, but her artistic ideas often arrive when she reads a book.
“There are things I read that aren’t accepted very much here,” she says, “but it’s not about belief, it’s about opening up to knowledge, which was exactly what the Muslims used to do a long time ago. They never expelled or excluded anything.
“Knowledge was very important, and other people’s knowledge was very important. For example, when they created their geometric patterns, they used the Vedic square, which comes from northern India. This is what I like, opening up to knowledge.”
What is next for Homoud? “I’ll keep looking for and acquiring knowledge. I don’t know what comes out of that.
“For me, ‘The Language of Existence’ is my lifetime project. Whatever I do, I go back to it and do more.”
Last Update: Thursday, 7 April 2016 KSA 08:04 - GMT 05:04
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/lif...lends-Islamic-calligraphy-with-geometry-.html
Good job girl and good luck.
Saif al-Arab
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ROZANA AL-BANAWI: PULLING THE STRINGS OF POSITIVE CHANGE IN SAUDI WOMEN
As a teenager who was very curious about change, little did she know that she would be on the frontline of it someday. Saudi advisor, trainer and organisational leadership coach Rozana Al-Banawi dwells upon the happiness of watching her clients grow as she works her magic of transforming personal lives and organisations.
She founded her practice Rozabee with an aim to delve into each individual life and find its true potential through exploration and self-reflection, and then strive to reach it by adopting the proper tools and skills.
“I like to see my work as an experience that you co-create what you want for yourself,” she said. “The most fulfilling image is seeing my clients embarking on the first steps of change and transformation, like a caterpillar getting ready to become a cocoon and inevitably a butterfly. Once a client starts that process, there is no turning back.”
Following her graduation from Effat University with a bachelor’s degree in Educational Psychology, Al-Banawi used that to teach psychology to female high school students of Dar Al-Fikr schools – an experience she enjoyed very much. She then continued her education at the University of Nottingham and graduated with a master’s degree in Human Relations.
Upon returning to the Kingdom with her master’s degree, the young leadership coach got herself into a pickle as her field of study was mistaken to be Human Resources. “I didn’t have any idea what to do with my master’s degree in Human Relations because it wasn’t known in Saudi and people think it is Human Resources.”
When Saudi Arabia’s first female employment project under the title ‘Hafiz’ was launched, Al-Banawi was among the first 25 female recruitment consultants. “I met lots of women from all different kinds of backgrounds and it was a very enriching experience because I learned a lot from those women,” she said.
After a year, she left her job only to discover she was more interested in encouraging people to achieve their goals and dreams. Following some research she came to understand it was called coaching. So she embarked on a search online for the best places offering such coaching courses. “I had to go through a long process in order to obtain an international licence,” she said in a recent interview. “I discovered that the coaching field that I wanted to specialize in was the development of leadership skills for Saudi women and human relations development as a whole with women who want to make a change in their lives.”
Al-Banawi says as a leader she is responsible for creating the life that she wants for herself and taking the lead. “So instead of waiting for others to start, I start it myself even if it isn’t complete.”
“I believe that for women, leadership is no longer an option,” said Al-Banawi. “All of us have become leaders with social media and the openness of the internet. When we post something on any platform; be it a picture or even a proverb, it will have an impact. This is leadership. Being responsible for the impact that one has through social media, this is leadership too.”
Speaking about the future, she said, “I am very optimistic, there is a growing network between women and individuals in society as the awareness is increasing. We are capable leaders.”
Al-Banawi is also a co-leader at CreativeMornings (The Jeddah Chapter), a monthly breakfast series for the creative community, and was among the Entrepreneurial Award Finalists at the Education UK Alumni Awards.
http://www.abouther.com/node/3466/p...i-pulling-strings-positive-change-saudi-women
MOUNIRA JAMJOOM JOURNEYS INTO PUSHING EDUCATION REFORMS IN SAUDI ARABIA
With an aim of wanting to be in the education sector, Saudi education reformer Mounira Jamjoom started off her career as a teacher who taught kids with learning disabilities. Having completed a degree in special education, she wanted to contribute to education reform in schools which prompted her to go for a master’s degree in curriculum development and later did her PhD in teacher education just so she can have a broader idea of how to contribute to education reform.
Moving back to Saudi Arabia, she realized she did not want to be stuck in the academic sector. “I wanted to be where change is happening, to contribute to actual national projects,” she said in an interview with Weoritu. “So I thought it was a good time to move out of academia to industry and get into management consulting to work on a large scale education projects or massive reform projects.”
Having worked with Strategy& (formerly known as Booz & Company), a global strategy consulting firm for a while, she worked on different projects that involved human capital development towards education, boosting creative industries for youth, women empowerment and different topics that, according to Jamjoom, are very close to her heart. As a result, she became familiar with how policymaking is being done at the larger level.
Later, Jamjoom got into government advisory only to realize the billions that were spent on education reform were not trickling down to the schools nor improving student outcome. That’s when she decided to open her own company.
Founding Emkaan Education, whose aim is to be the company that works at the school level and at the government level to bring both together, Jamjoom makes sure that the money and resources spent on national projects reach schools.
However, the path is not obstacle-free for the young education reformer. “Being a woman working in an industry that is mainly male-driven, where the policymaking elements are also mainly male-driven, is really very difficult to establish your credibility as a woman,” she said. “So you really have to work twice as hard as the man and be more outspoken and more assertive about what you think.”
Jamjoom lives by a motto in life to have passion in whatever you do “because you are going to face challenges by default anyway,” she said. “The education industry is very difficult, where you deal with people who are very difficult, especially in the GCC.”
“I’m very proud of women in this region because we have an inverse gender gap and women are doing much better than men,” she said. “Girls outperform boys in Math and Science in Saudi Arabia unlike in other countries where boys outperform girls.”
She believes Saudi women have a bright future ahead but advise them to continue asking for their rights, to push on, to voice their opinion and show what they can do.
Jamjoom received her bachelor’s degree in Special Education from Dar Al-Hekma University, holds a master’s degree in Curriculum Development from the Teachers College of Columbia University and a PhD in Education from the University of Oxford.
BY FADIA JIFFRY
http://www.abouther.com/node/3316/p...urneys-pushing-education-reforms-saudi-arabia
https://www.azazarchitects.com
Ruba won a special award for her Green Nanotechnology Project in the field of Environmental Engineering
#SaudiWomen #isef2017 #RiyadhSummit
God bless our beautiful and hardworking women who keep impressing despite at times difficult odds. Hopefully they will continue to enrich our country and society and achieve all their dreams and goals. Hopefully some of them will also help smash the skulls of destructive and demonic individuals trying to suppress them!
Geometry (originates in the Arab world) and calligraphy are almost synonymous with Arab art and architecture. I am happy that this has had a renaissance lately. There is a push towards cultural revivals and a growing interest in the cultural, artistic, architectural etc. past. I see it very clearly in KSA or even on social media.
Anyway this thread is a good example of the stylishness and grace of Saudi Arabian women! No plastic operations, no tons of makeup, no nose jobs, no absurd clothing etc. like certain others in the region. Arabian/Arab beauty of ordinary women!
As a teenager who was very curious about change, little did she know that she would be on the frontline of it someday. Saudi advisor, trainer and organisational leadership coach Rozana Al-Banawi dwells upon the happiness of watching her clients grow as she works her magic of transforming personal lives and organisations.
She founded her practice Rozabee with an aim to delve into each individual life and find its true potential through exploration and self-reflection, and then strive to reach it by adopting the proper tools and skills.
“I like to see my work as an experience that you co-create what you want for yourself,” she said. “The most fulfilling image is seeing my clients embarking on the first steps of change and transformation, like a caterpillar getting ready to become a cocoon and inevitably a butterfly. Once a client starts that process, there is no turning back.”
Following her graduation from Effat University with a bachelor’s degree in Educational Psychology, Al-Banawi used that to teach psychology to female high school students of Dar Al-Fikr schools – an experience she enjoyed very much. She then continued her education at the University of Nottingham and graduated with a master’s degree in Human Relations.
Upon returning to the Kingdom with her master’s degree, the young leadership coach got herself into a pickle as her field of study was mistaken to be Human Resources. “I didn’t have any idea what to do with my master’s degree in Human Relations because it wasn’t known in Saudi and people think it is Human Resources.”
When Saudi Arabia’s first female employment project under the title ‘Hafiz’ was launched, Al-Banawi was among the first 25 female recruitment consultants. “I met lots of women from all different kinds of backgrounds and it was a very enriching experience because I learned a lot from those women,” she said.
After a year, she left her job only to discover she was more interested in encouraging people to achieve their goals and dreams. Following some research she came to understand it was called coaching. So she embarked on a search online for the best places offering such coaching courses. “I had to go through a long process in order to obtain an international licence,” she said in a recent interview. “I discovered that the coaching field that I wanted to specialize in was the development of leadership skills for Saudi women and human relations development as a whole with women who want to make a change in their lives.”
Al-Banawi says as a leader she is responsible for creating the life that she wants for herself and taking the lead. “So instead of waiting for others to start, I start it myself even if it isn’t complete.”
“I believe that for women, leadership is no longer an option,” said Al-Banawi. “All of us have become leaders with social media and the openness of the internet. When we post something on any platform; be it a picture or even a proverb, it will have an impact. This is leadership. Being responsible for the impact that one has through social media, this is leadership too.”
Speaking about the future, she said, “I am very optimistic, there is a growing network between women and individuals in society as the awareness is increasing. We are capable leaders.”
Al-Banawi is also a co-leader at CreativeMornings (The Jeddah Chapter), a monthly breakfast series for the creative community, and was among the Entrepreneurial Award Finalists at the Education UK Alumni Awards.
http://www.abouther.com/node/3466/p...i-pulling-strings-positive-change-saudi-women
MOUNIRA JAMJOOM JOURNEYS INTO PUSHING EDUCATION REFORMS IN SAUDI ARABIA
With an aim of wanting to be in the education sector, Saudi education reformer Mounira Jamjoom started off her career as a teacher who taught kids with learning disabilities. Having completed a degree in special education, she wanted to contribute to education reform in schools which prompted her to go for a master’s degree in curriculum development and later did her PhD in teacher education just so she can have a broader idea of how to contribute to education reform.
Moving back to Saudi Arabia, she realized she did not want to be stuck in the academic sector. “I wanted to be where change is happening, to contribute to actual national projects,” she said in an interview with Weoritu. “So I thought it was a good time to move out of academia to industry and get into management consulting to work on a large scale education projects or massive reform projects.”
Having worked with Strategy& (formerly known as Booz & Company), a global strategy consulting firm for a while, she worked on different projects that involved human capital development towards education, boosting creative industries for youth, women empowerment and different topics that, according to Jamjoom, are very close to her heart. As a result, she became familiar with how policymaking is being done at the larger level.
Later, Jamjoom got into government advisory only to realize the billions that were spent on education reform were not trickling down to the schools nor improving student outcome. That’s when she decided to open her own company.
Founding Emkaan Education, whose aim is to be the company that works at the school level and at the government level to bring both together, Jamjoom makes sure that the money and resources spent on national projects reach schools.
However, the path is not obstacle-free for the young education reformer. “Being a woman working in an industry that is mainly male-driven, where the policymaking elements are also mainly male-driven, is really very difficult to establish your credibility as a woman,” she said. “So you really have to work twice as hard as the man and be more outspoken and more assertive about what you think.”
Jamjoom lives by a motto in life to have passion in whatever you do “because you are going to face challenges by default anyway,” she said. “The education industry is very difficult, where you deal with people who are very difficult, especially in the GCC.”
“I’m very proud of women in this region because we have an inverse gender gap and women are doing much better than men,” she said. “Girls outperform boys in Math and Science in Saudi Arabia unlike in other countries where boys outperform girls.”
She believes Saudi women have a bright future ahead but advise them to continue asking for their rights, to push on, to voice their opinion and show what they can do.
Jamjoom received her bachelor’s degree in Special Education from Dar Al-Hekma University, holds a master’s degree in Curriculum Development from the Teachers College of Columbia University and a PhD in Education from the University of Oxford.
BY FADIA JIFFRY
http://www.abouther.com/node/3316/p...urneys-pushing-education-reforms-saudi-arabia
https://www.azazarchitects.com
Ruba won a special award for her Green Nanotechnology Project in the field of Environmental Engineering
#SaudiWomen #isef2017 #RiyadhSummit
God bless our beautiful and hardworking women who keep impressing despite at times difficult odds. Hopefully they will continue to enrich our country and society and achieve all their dreams and goals. Hopefully some of them will also help smash the skulls of destructive and demonic individuals trying to suppress them!
Geometry (originates in the Arab world) and calligraphy are almost synonymous with Arab art and architecture. I am happy that this has had a renaissance lately. There is a push towards cultural revivals and a growing interest in the cultural, artistic, architectural etc. past. I see it very clearly in KSA or even on social media.
Anyway this thread is a good example of the stylishness and grace of Saudi Arabian women! No plastic operations, no tons of makeup, no nose jobs, no absurd clothing etc. like certain others in the region. Arabian/Arab beauty of ordinary women!
Saif al-Arab
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1000's of such successful stories need to be spread abroad. It paints a much different picture of KSA than what is propagandized abroad in the Western media especially although I have noticed that they are becoming less biased in their reporting.
FEMALE, SAUDI, AND FIERCE Long discouraged from sports, especially those that clerics call masculine, urban women are drawn to clubs and home gyms where they can exercise away from men. Halah Alhamrani, 39, teaches kickboxing at her home in Jeddah; she’s a physical trainer, a career that women are taking up despite some hostile response. “Not just men,” says another Jeddah trainer. “A lot of closed-minded women see what we’re doing as a disgrace.”
LOL, this is the worst kick I have ever seen
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