With the wave of reforms taking over Saudi Arabia over the past two years, the Kingdom’s women are more than ever aiming for leadership positions inside and outside the country, particularly as many Saudi women have proven their leadership capabilities in different fields over the decades. This week, as part of the nation’s efforts to integrate women more women in leadership positions, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Labor and Social Development announced this week the graduation of the second group of women enrolled in its "Leadership Training and Guidance" initiative.
According to Arab News, this month saw the graduation of 31 female trainees in mid-level leadership and 30 others in senior leadership. As part of Saudi Arabia’s National Transformation Program 2020, the training courses within this initiative focus on several themes: Women and leadership, strategic planning, influence and motivation, motivating others through feedback, making decisions in confusing and high-risk situations, making group decisions, applying leading change and implementing strategies. The report states that women will be trained to work in the governmental sector in the near future.
As pointed out by Women2030.com, the ministry has designed various initiatives for women, including Saudization efforts for women and others – such as this the "Leadership Training and Guidance" initiative – specifically targeted towards the inclusion of Saudi women in high-level leadership roles. Today, through efforts such as these, and based on certain objectives laid out in the country’s Vision 2030, more Saudi Arabian women are holding leadership positions that allow them to represent their country to the world. In these roles, they are instigating real change and have a powerful voice regarding where the Kingdom is moving towards, such as Princess Reema Bint Bandar Al-Saud who is today the first female ambassador to represent Saudi Arabia.
According to a recent report by UN Women, women’s economic equality in any nation is always good for business. On a commercial level, increasing employment and leadership opportunities for women benefits companies greatly, particularly as it increases organizational effectiveness and growth. On a legislative and governmental level, the WEF has pointed out that countries with a greater proportion of women as decision-makers in legislatures have lower levels of income inequality, and having a greater proportion of women in government is said to be good for health.
