While Riyadh celebrates Saudi women on International Women’s Day, eyes turn to the Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University (PNU), which is honoring the winners of Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University Prize for Women’s Excellence in its fourth edition. According to Mody AlKhalaf, the secretary-general of the award, the PNU prize is one of the Kingdom’s first-ever to shed light on the achievements of Saudi women. Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, AlKhalaf points out that giving out the award on March 8, which coincides with International Women’s Day, affirms the award’s leading role in the global empowerment system. Moreover, it echoes Saudi Arabia’s belief in the message of empowerment as an integral part of the nation’s advancement process at the hands of its sons and daughters alike. When asked how the prize’s fourth edition differs from its former versions, AlKhalaf said: “Like other awards, it evolves with each cycle, striving to achieve its vision in the best way.” AlKhalaf added that this vision aims to celebrate the achievements of Saudi women as one of the pillars of sustainable national development and seeks to transfer them to the world. “From this standpoint, in this edition, we were keen to choose topics that contribute to achieving the goals of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030,” revealed AlKhalaf, adding that the topics involve research on women’s health, energy, renewable energy, and research on local identity and national heritage. The Prize covers 6 fields: health sciences (women’s health), natural sciences (energy and renewable energy), literature (studies that highlight local identity and national heritage), social works (women’s endowments), economic projects (pioneering projects that contributed to supporting domestic tourism), and art work (Arabic calligraphy). “Awards, naturally, highlight excellence and give a stronger motivation to achieve even more,” noted AlKhalaf, adding that the prize also draws the attention of the relevant authorities to the accomplishments and skills of exceptional Saudi women. Noting that the prize helps growing ambitions, AlKhalaf said the award has become “an incentive towards which the rest of the distinguished women and daughters of the country are working, especially since it has become a milestone in the sky of local honors.” She also highlighted that the PNU prize has received generous sponsorship from the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques since its inception. The movement to empower Saudi women has brought to light many creative and distinguished Saudi females in various fields. As for whether this makes giving out the award easier or harder, AlKhalaf said: “It certainly raises our motivation, as the number of distinguished women increases, and the fields of their creativity diversify.” She added that the increase in talented Saudi women would help diversify the fields covered by the award. “Saudi women have been supported and empowered since the establishment of the Kingdom, but there is no doubt that the acceleration of empowerment steps - and at all levels - that we are witnessing recently contributed to their presence remarkably today, and in various scientific, practical and media sectors,” said AlKhalaf. It is noteworthy that PNU’s award honors the life of Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman, sister of the founding King Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al Saud. Princess Nourah learned to read and write in an age when there were few educated women, and she enjoyed an enlightened mindset that realized its importance in improving and developing human life, so she was keen to encourage girls to learn.