Saudi women have achieved yet another landmark feat this year. The Kingdom’s Civil Defence has now opened its doors to women recruits, becoming the third uniformed sector in Saudi Arabia that was exclusively for men to open up to women in the last three months.
In January, women were allowed to join the General Directorate for Passports, a move that saw 107,000 applications for the 140 job positions available. A month later, in February, women gained the right to become soldiers.
Speaking to Gulf News, Abdul Rahman Al Hussaini, the Deputy Director General of Civil Defence for Safety Affairs, said there have been several meetings with the civil service ministry to recruit women as safety officials in the Civil Defence and in the public sector.
“We are working with the Ministry of Education to adopt safety engineering and fire science courses for both sexes in a number of universities […] We have covered up to 50 per cent with Princess Nourah University, and we continue to work with other universities on the matter. There is a wide participation by women, especially during Haj and Umrah, in performing specific tasks,” he said in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, as he highlighted Civil Defence achievements in the last 18 months.
Recent changes in the Kingdom have come as part of its Vision 2030, a national strategy being led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Under this ambitious post-oil economic plan, Saudi Arabia aims to diversify its economy and become a more tourist-friendly destination as well. As part of this plan, the government also aims to increase the percentage of women in the nation’s workforce to 28 percent by 2020.
Spearheading women’s causes in the Kingdom – such as their right to join the army – are the Shura Council and the media. In February, Council member Iqbal Darandari called for imposing mandatory training on Saudi men and women so that all Saudis can defend their country.
“Conscription is today a national necessity and should include both men and women,” she said. “Women must be trained to serve their country and defend themselves and their homeland in case of a crisis, war or attack in any region.”
