RIYADH — Dr. Sarah Al-Otaibi, director at women"s Makkah branch of the Institute of Public Administration, has been awarded the Women Leader of the Year Award 2020 at the level of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries during the Government Summit for Human Resources held in Dubai, the Saudi Press Agency reported. The award aims to highlight and honor the pioneering achievements of public sector organizations and individuals who have demonstrated exemplary leadership in human capital management and strategic planning. Dr. Al-Otaibi expressed her pride in winning this great honor, saying that this comes as a result of unlimited support for Saudi women from Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman. She praised the work and cooperation of the working team to prepare the women’s branch of IPA in Makkah to be a platform to provide advanced training services for women in the region. The relevant committee nominated Al-Otaibi and some other leaders from GCC states for this year’s Women Leadership Awards in recognition of the pioneering achievements of public sector institutions and individuals who have demonstrated exemplary leadership capabilities toward organizational leadership and team effectiveness through human capital management, diversity and strategic planning. She also thanked the institute’s Director-General Dr. Bandar Bin Asaad Al-Sajan, officials, colleagues and female colleagues in the head office and its branches. Speaking on the occasion, Al-Sajan said: “The award is the result of the work and cooperation of a wonderful team that has worked for more than two years to establish the institute’s women"s branch in Makkah and prepare it to be a new platform for providing advanced training services for women in the region.” It is noteworthy that the Gov HR Summit in Dubai is the main event for human resources in the public sector in the region, and it brings together young minds and people with experience in human resources from all parts of GCC to highlight best practices for utilizing human resources in preparing organizations to respond to business needs that have priority and utilization of human capital.