Saudi Government to Create More Job Opportunities for
Women
Khaleej Times - 12 May, 2007
The percentage of women in the Saudi work force is
expected to more than double from 5.4 per cent to 14.2 per cent by the end
of the Eighth Five-Year Development Plan (2005-2009), according to Economy
and Planning Minister Khaled Al Gosaibi.
Al Gosaibi said that the
Eighth Plan aims to improve the situation of Saudi women by providing them
with more business and job opportunities, and added that the number of
working women in the kingdom is very small compared to other countries. He
added that the number of women graduates has outnumbered their male
counterparts, as girls constitute 56.5 per cent of the total number of
graduates in recent years. These graduates must be given adequate
opportunities and incentives.
The plan, which was approved by the
Cabinet in November 2005, places greater emphasis on the potential role of
women in the economy and the need to create more employment opportunities
for them. It also identifies ways to achieve such participation by
upgrading the capabilities of Saudi women, and removing obstacles that
constrain their increased participation in economic and development
activities.
The plan perceives an increased share of the national
work force in total manpower (both employed and unemployed) from 36.9 per
cent in 2004 to 39.2 per cent in 2009, along with continued efforts to
raise women’s participation rate from 10.3 per cent at the beginning of
the plan to 14.2 per cent by the end of the plan.
The plan has
envisaged two particular objectives relevant to women’s empowerment. The
first is to strengthen the family by maintaining Arab and Islamic values,
providing adequate care to family members and creating conditions that are
conducive to the development of capabilities and talents for each member
of a family. The second goal is to increase women’s participation in
various fields, both within the family and at work, by providing greater
opportunities for decision-making and by adopting approaches that lead to
the empowerment of women in terms of education, health and
employment.
The current statistics of the labour market by
nationality (Saudis versus non-Saudis) indicate that 32.6 per cent of the
national workers are employed in service jobs, while 39 per cent of
non-Saudis are employed in the production and transportation sectors, with
28.4 per cent of non-Saudis working in the service
sectors.
Presently, Saudi women are extensively employed in the
educational and health sectors, leaving other productive sectors,
particularly in the private sector, to the domination of
men.
According to a report by the UN Development Programme (UNDP),
the lack of optimum employment of human resources, including women, has
led to the increased reliance on foreign manpower.
The report
called for strong labour market structures to channel the work force to
the most productive sectors of the economy with more dependence on the
local work force.
“There is a need for national planners to decide
the ideal mix of economic sectors ... to become a diversified economic
base that does not rely on oil and natural gas,” the report
said. |