RIYADH — The Saudi woman, with her thought and action, has succeeded in contributing to the advancement of the march of national development and has become an active partner in the nation’s growth and development. The Saudi women have achieved qualitative leaps in various fields ranging from science and economy to politics and societal development. The Kingdom’s wise leadership is keen and caring to empower, support, enable and promote the role of the woman at all levels. This has enabled the Saudi woman to move forward with confidence and competence, contributing remarkably to the future of her country. While widely sharing the role with men in the service of society and the nation, the Saudi woman is relying on the absolute confidence being given to her pivotal and vital role by the wise leadership in contributing her share in the national growth story. Following social, economic and civil reforms, since 2015, woman has witnessed unprecedented steps in order to enhance and empower her status in a way consistent with her capabilities to achieve more successes in various fields. And for this purpose, new legislation have been enacted regarding regulations and laws related to her, while the goals of the Kingdom"s Vision 2030 empowered the Saudi woman to be a key element in national development. The leadership has paved the way for her to be a contributor to various aspects of development at a time that the vision"s programs and executive initiatives have strengthened her status while enabling her to realize her aspirations and ambitions. The Saudi woman is witnessing an exceptional phase, represented in her actions to serve the society. In recent years, the Saudi woman has accomplished various achievements, especially in the social aspect. This is due to the deep connection with the nature of a woman and her responsibility towards her family and the society. Many women in Saudi Arabia are now known as leaders in the social sphere, filling positions in universities, ministries and institutions, concerned with enabling and rehabilitating women in the community. The Arab Women’s Committee, under the umbrella of the Arab League, declared Riyadh as the Capital of Arab Women 2020 under the slogan "Woman is Homeland and Ambition", and this declaration comes as an affirmation to the role of the Saudi women and to the continued support provided to them by the government. The declaration also comes as proof of the advancement of Saudi women working in high positions, and their presence in local and international events confirms that Saudi women have gained the trust, which is deserved, of the wise leadership. This has enabled them to participate and deliver their opinion in the international community. In line with the efforts of the Kingdom to serve the cases of Arab women and support the development of societies, Saudi Arabia’s capital, Riyadh, in February 2020, hosted the works of the 39th session of the Arab Women’s Committee that was held under the slogan “Empowering Women... Development of Society”. This session aimed to advance women’s status, support their rights through economic and social empowerment and highlight their leadership and influential role in vital sectors. To fulfill the dreams, hopes and ambitions of Saudi woman in the field of community service, the National Transformation Program (NTP) 2020 increased the participation of Saudi women in labor community, by enabling them to work in higher positions. In this regard, Dr. Deema Saleh Alathel was appointed as a representative of private sector institutions and Deema Abdulaziz Al-Sheikh was also appointed as a representative of civil society institutions. The government has also established specialized centers and launched initiatives for women to train them in order for them to fill leadership position and enabling them to be decision makers. One of these initiatives is the "Leadership Training and Guidance for Female Cadres" initiative that aims to train up to 1,700 females working in the public and private sectors to be promoted to leading positions. The Leaders Development Center also launched the “Rakeen” initiative that aims to enhance capacity building for women leaders, which enables them to achieve the strategic objectives of charity and voluntary sector via a package of training and development programs that will provide them with the needed leadership skills to promote charity and development organizations and to achieve social development effectively. The Saudi woman is known as an active player in the social sphere through her outstanding contributions to charity and voluntary works and in the service of the society. The Saudi women’s charitable efforts are distinguished by their following organized and official methods, participating in voluntary associations concerned with women; their education and the difficulties that they face. Some of the associations are independent, while other associations are under the supervision of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, which specified numerous programs and initiatives to achieve its strategic objective that aims at supporting women and increasing their participation in the labor market. The nonprofit charitable sector in Saudi Arabia is witnessing rapid growth and the women have a pivotal role in it, attempting to achieve the Vision 2030 and benefiting from the ministries’ initiatives to play their role and fulfill the ambitions of the leadership and the society. The initiatives that have been provided by ministries to empower women include the "Promotion Flexible Work" initiative, which aims to increase the number of female workers by providing flexible working hours, and the "Promotion of Remote Working" initiative, which aims to create a flexible recruitment method for those who face difficulty to be in the workplace. This is in addition to the "Support and Facilitation of Women"s Transportation" initiative and "Providing Care Services for The Children of Working Women" initiative, as well as "Parallel Training to the Requirements of the Labor Market" initiative, which aims to develop women’s personal and technical skills to help them in the labor market. The conference of the Role of Saudi Woman in Development entitled “Towards a Vibrant Society”, held in February 2019 in Riyadh, reaffirmed the role of Saudi woman in building a vibrant society. The conference was organized by the National Observatory for Women in King Saud University and General Authority for Statistics (GaStat), with the participation of UN Woman and Alwaleed Philanthropies. The National Observatory for Women indicators were launched in this conference, which are considered as tools supporting the periodical measurement of Saudi woman participation in development. They are also considered one of the tools for developing strategies related to woman in Saudi Arabia. At the opening of the conference, Minister of Human Resources and Social Development Eng. Ahmed Bin Sulaiman Al Rajhi asserted that the Saudi Vision 2030 has determined the road map and specified all national goals to empower woman, so that she becomes a real and active partner in developing our country. He added that the vision has also developed executive programs and initiatives, which will transfer all our hopes into real achievements. He said that the undertaken works to ensure women empowerment in our country comes with total conviction that is derived from the Islamic principles, which give woman all her rights while offering her psychological and social protection. Eng. Al Rajhi also stated that “since the foundation of our country, and its recent take off, the government has paid attention to woman’s basic rights and needs and to achieve this, women empowerment programs have been designed especially in labor and education. “At present, Saudi woman scores high in both work and education. Moreover, she participates in many outstanding scientific researches at both local and international levels. Saudi woman has also succeeded in the business sector, in addition to the management of corporations, banks and non-profit associations.” The Saudi woman continues to contribute effectively in advancing development through voluntary work, and the Saudi Vision 2030 believes and focuses on developing voluntary work. The wise leadership believed in the importance of voluntary work and provided a positive environment to promote the growth of voluntary sector. Moreover, Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 states that one of its goals is to increase the number of volunteers from 11,000 currently, to one million volunteers per year by 2030. Therefore, empowering woman in the voluntary sector is one of the pillars to achieve Saudi Arabia’s development plan. Considering the main role of women in development and the service of the society, the objectives of the Vision 2030 focused on ensuring the women’s full participation in society’s development since development and social construction cannot be reached except with the participation of women. The Vision 2030 provided the support for women, empowering them to build their future. The Vision 2030 also believed in women’s ambitions and has worked to develop their skills and to invest in their energy, in addition to providing the environment and services, which will help them to perform their national responsibilities. — SPA