Saudi Arabia is still working rigorously towards integrating more women across the board, from supporting their appointment in top leadership positions and celebrating their achievements in all sectors, to proving safe and supportive environments for them at work through various initiatives. As part of its efforts, the country’s Human Resources Development Fund Program, also known as Hadaf or HRDF, established the Saudi Women Empowerment Program, which offers two core programs – Qurrat and Wusool – designed to encourage Saudi women to enter and remain in the workforce. Qurrat in particular is a key component in facilitating the lives of working mothers as it is a national childcare initiative supported by the Ministry of Labor and Social Development. Today, the results are in, to date, 2,514 women have benefitted from nurseries and daycare centers and services that have been set up in various regions of across the Kingdom. HRDF has also…

Iran’s only female Olympic medalist, Kimia Alizadeh, has announced that she is permanently leaving her country for Europe. The 21-year-old wrote in an Instagram post explaining why she was defecting, “Let me start with a greeting, a farewell or condolences,” “I am one of the millions of oppressed women in Iran who they have been playing with for years.” Alizadeh became the first Iranian woman to win an Olympic medal after claiming bronze in the 57kg category of Taekwondo at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Affectionately known in Iran as “The Tsunami,” Alizadeh announced she was leaving her birth country amid searing criticism of the regime in Tehran. “They took me wherever they wanted. I wore whatever they said. Every sentence they ordered me to say, I repeated. Whenever they saw fit, they exploited me,” she wrote, adding that credit for her success always went to those in charge. “I wasn’t…

Saudi Arabia’s state security agency says a social media post on one of its accounts that categorised feminism as extremism was a mistake. The promotional video categorised feminism, homosexuality and atheism as dangerous ideas and warned Saudis to be vigilant against them. The security agency says it is investigating the video. Saudi Arabia is trying to shake off its image as one of the most repressive countries in the world for women. The animated clip was posted to the Twitter account of the State Security Presidency over the weekend. The agency reports directly to King Salman. The agency said in a statement that the video contained multiple mistakes and the makers of the video did not do their job properly. The Saudi Human Rights Commission also released a statement saying that feminism was not a crime. However, it did not make reference to homosexuality or atheism. Saudi Arabia has no…