Three years ago, Saudi women participated in elections for the first time in the Kingdom’s history, with more than 130,000 registering to vote in municipal elections. This year, Saudi Arabia also appointed women municipality heads in Sharafiya and Dhahban, and the Mayor of Jeddah, Saleh Al-Turki, appointed four women to key positions within the municipality. Today, the Kingdom continues to work on including women at the municipal level and encourage female empowerment within Saudi Arabia’s local governments, announcing this month the appointment of two Saudi women to key leadership positions.
As reported by Saudi Gazette, Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs Abdullatif Al-Asheikh announced the appointment of Noura Bint Najr Al-Otaibi as the director of the ministry’s center to monitor municipal performance. Reporting directly to the minister, Al-Otaibi will work to ensure the ministry’s efforts continue to be aimed at “enhancing capacity building in the field of performance management in the municipal sector.”
The center that Al-Otaibi will be heading is responsible for assessing the various risks of the municipal sector across all regions based on approved performance management indicators. As part of her job, Al-Otaibi will evaluate municipal risks and challenges in order to suggest appropriate solutions. She will also assess municipal services that are currently being provided to beneficiaries and propose ways to improve them.
The second appointee announced by the minister is Dai Bint Ibrahim Al-Duwaiyan, who will take on her role as chairperson of the center for developing urban designs and planning. The center that she will be heading works on “promoting the urban designs of cities, improving capacity building, encouraging afforestation, and creating architectural identities for Saudi cities.”
