MUSCAT, 22 October 2004 — Leading Omani women have hailed the appointment of Dr. Sharifah bint Khalfan Al- Yahayai, a university professor, as minister of social development, the third woman to hold a Cabinet portfolio and the fourth with a ministerial rank.

“We are proud that more and more Omani women are scaling new heights in various fields,” Shakoor bint Mohammed Al-Ghammari, Oman’s senior most woman parliamentarian, told Arab News yesterday.

The appointment was made on Wednesday by Sultan Qaboos, who through another royal decree created a full-fledged Sports Ministry to be headed by Ali ibn Masoud Al-Sunaidi, until now commerce and industry undersecretary in place of the General Organization for Youth, Sports and Cultural Activities which has now been disbanded.

Al-Ghammari, spending her second term on the state council after completing two terms on Majlis Al-Shoura, the elected lower house of Parliament, said given the opportunity women were nowhere behind men. “And this is what is being proved in Oman, where women enjoy equal rights as enshrined in the constitution.” Dr. Sharifah, head of Arabic faculty at Sultan Qaboos University, replaces Sheikh Amer ibn Shuwain Al-Hosni, who was also Minister of Labor and Social Affairs.

Al-Ghammari said the fact that there are nine women on the state council, the upper house, and two on Majlis Al-Shoura, shows the key role Omani women are playing as parliamentarians for the development of the country. “Omani women are moving forward shoulder to shoulder with men. There is no gender distinction in Oman.”

She said with the appointment of Dr. Thuwaibah bint Ahmed Al-Barwani on the state council on Wednesday, the strength of the upper house, now in its third term, has reached 57, of which nine are women. “This is not a small achievement for us women,” said the mother of three.

Rahila Al-Riyami, who was re-elected to Majlis Al-Shoura in 2002 during the country’s first open and direct franchise, said the number of Omani women holding high posts was steadily rising.

Oman also enjoys the distinction of having a woman ambassador abroad. Recently, an Omani woman broke the male monopoly by becoming the first female heavy vehicle-driving instructor. Some women are waiting in the wings to become pilots. Omani women almost outnumber men in banks and some other institutions. “Women in Oman are making the best use of the encouragement they are receiving from the government and other quarters,” said the grandmother.