HRH Princess Reema bint Bandar Al Saud
Saudi Arabia’s Princess Reema Bint Bandar Bin Sultan, known for her efforts to empower women across the Kingdom, has been honored with the Arab Sports Personality Award at the 9th edition of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Creative Sports Awards. According to Gulf News, her win is in recognition of her entrepreneurial spirit and philanthropic efforts.
Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Creative Sports Award, announced the names of the winners in the presence of Moaza Al Marri, General Secretary of the Award and Mustapha Larfaoui, Chairman of the Jury Committee.
“This time the focus was on women and their contribution in sports within our society. I am extremely pleased that a person like Princess Rima has bagged the Arab Sports Personality Award as this will further encourage women in our region to push towards excellence,” Al Marri told Gulf News.
Taking to Twitter, she expressed her pride in receiving the award, thanking her country and its leadership for all the support and funding in the sports industry. “It means a lot to me and my fellow countrywomen, and it encourages us to work even harder for our nation,” she added.
President of the Saudi Federation for Community Sports, Princess Reema has been a long-time supporter of providing women with more opportunities to grow and achieve, even helping secure licenses for female-only gyms.
Earlier this year, in October, Princess Reema achieved another first for Saudi women when she became the first woman to lead the Saudi Federation for Community Sports that manages sports-related activities for both men and women in the Kingdom. Before that, she scored another first in 2016 by being appointed by the Saudi cabinet to head of a sports department for women.
According to Gulf Business, the Princess is a founding member of the Zahra Breast Cancer Awareness Association, and “her 10KSA initiative was entered into the Guinness Book of World Records in 2015 when 8,264 women in pink scarves formed the ‘world’s largest humanitarian ribbon’ to raise awareness for breast cancer prevention.”
Princess Reema was born in Riyadh but educated in the US, earning a degree in museum studies from George Washington University. She has worked as the CEO of luxury retailer Alfa International, where she encouraged women to become part of the workplace, increasing the number of saleswomen at the Riyadh branch of high end department store. She is also the founder of a creative talent initiative, and has made a name for herself over the years as an activist.
