JEDDAH: More than 150,000 divorced, abused and deserted women live in dire situations, Minister for Social Affairs Yousef Al-Othaimeen said while lauding efforts to provide training to these women so they could, “take care of themselves and provide for their children.”
The minister made his comments Thursday night during the inauguration of Saudi Hands — a new nonprofit vocational training center in Jeddah’s Baghdadiyah district.
Al-Othaimeen asserted that the goals of such organizations should be to direct, teach, employ and train the poor. Saudi Hands has begun its program with a pool of 200 students and maintains an SR11 million budget. Saudi Hands will work with the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry to help some trainees start their own businesses.
The center includes 15 programs from which a trainee can choose. The programs include courses in cooking, decoration and design, computer and electronics maintenance, hair styling and advertising.
According to the Ministry of Social Affairs, there are 571 licensed charitable societies in Saudi Arabia and more than 88 private charity society institutions that provide different services.
