WUNRN
Saudi Women May Soon Take Up
Diplomatic Work
Arab News - 12 February, 2007
Saudi women will soon be eligible to take up diplomatic work
at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, according to a leading official at the
Institute of Diplomatic Studies.
“There is an inclination to open the
diplomatic sector for women at the institute and the minister of foreign affairs
is very keen on women working in the ministry,” said Dr. Muhammad Al-Uwaydi,
director of the Periodicals and Publishing Department at the Institute of
Diplomatic Studies. The institute was established 27 years ago to serve the
Foreign Affairs Ministry by training Saudi diplomats.
Al-Uwaydi said
seminars were being held to train the wives of diplomats before they travel
abroad with their husbands. Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal announced two
years ago that Saudi women would be employed at the ministry. The ministry had
also began hiring Saudi women to work at the Kingdom’s missions
abroad.
“So opening a section for women to qualify them for diplomatic
work is in line with that,” said Al-Uwaydi while speaking to Arab News
yesterday. Al-Uwaydi was visiting the Organization of the Islamic Conferences
(OIC) with 20 male students from the institute.
The Institute of
Diplomatic Studies organizes visits to relevant organizations and ministries as
part of its practical training program. The institute offers diplomas to
bachelor degree holders and holds training seminars for high-school certificate
holders.
“We welcome joint training programs with institutes inside and
outside the Kingdom. We have sent trainees to countries such as Germany, where
we have a cooperation agreement with its Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” said
Al-Uwaydi.
During the two-hour visit yesterday, officials from the OIC
welcomed students and informed them of the organization’s objectives and
activities. The students in turn asked questions about the OIC’s future plans
and challenges.
To a question about changing the name of the
organization, Ezzat Mufti, the OIC assistant secretary-general, said discussions
on the issue were under way especially since there were efforts to review the
organization’s entire charter.
Another question was about the problem of
Christian missionaries in Africa. Talal Daus, director of the Muslim Minorities
Department, answered that the OIC was coordinating various activities for
Muslims in Africa.
Ghazi Bakash, director of the Islamic Solidarity Fund,
also pointed to the financial and humanitarian support provided by the fund to
Muslim minorities.
A student asked why the OIC focuses on women and human
rights issues when the Muslim world is facing more serious and important issues.
The student was referring to the introduction by Ambassador Mahdi Fathalla,
director of the Political Affairs Department.
Mufti replied that there
was a need to clarify Islam’s position on these issues because those targeting
Islam were working to undermine it to achieve political and strategic goals. He
added that naturally urgent issues such as Iraq have a
priority.
Abderraouf Ben Rejeb, director of the OIC Information
Department, said that improving and revitalizing Islamic media efforts was one
of the organization’s new goals and that there was a meeting of the board of
directors of the International Islamic News Agency and the Islamic States
Broadcasting Organization at the end of this month to discuss ways of
restructuring
them.
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