JEDDAH, 19 May 2003 — A women’s council has been established at the Saudi Scientific Club here with the aim of promoting the talents of outstanding girls in the sciences and encouraging them to make scientific innovations.
Dr. Abdullah Omar Naseef, vice chairman of the club, said the move was also aimed at enhancing scientific awareness among women in the Kingdom.
Makkah Governor Prince Abdul Majeed, who is chairman of the club, has approved the new women’s council under the chairmanship of Dr. Nida Abdussalam Jambi.
The council’s members are: Dr. Fowziya Muhammad Ashmakh, Dr. Nadiya Muhammad Baashan and Dr. Ameera Dawood Qashqery, all of whom are university professors; Dr. Sameera Ahmad Salam, a doctor and researcher, Muetabar Muhammad Ameen Qassim, an educator, Maha Ahmad Fitaihi and Hussa Abdul Rahman Al-Aun, both businesswomen.
The formation of the council comes after Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd stated on Saturday that women should play a major role in shaping the Kingdom’s future.
“I say to every female citizen either a sister or a mother or a daughter or a wife, this nation is for all and the good citizen is a partner in making the future,” the king said in his annual address to the Shoura Council.
In his address, the king also said that the government would widen the horizons for working women within the framework of Islamic teachings.
The new council held its first meeting recently and set up a number of subsidiary committees for designing and implementation of scientific programs; development of skills, and formulating the standards to select talented girls. These committees are chaired by Dr. Sameera, Dr. Nadiya Baashan and Dr. Fowziya Ashmakh.
Another committee has been set up for information, public relations and development of financial resources. “This committee will try to enlighten the public on the objectives of the club and its activities,” Naseef told the Saudi Press Agency. The committee, he said, would also meet with female directors of scientific colleges and societies and businesswomen as well as female company managers to gain support for the club. The panel includes Hussa Al-Aun and Maha Fitaihi.
Dr. Naseef said changes have been made in the club’s objectives as it will henceforth take care of outstanding girls as well as boys.
“It will develop the capabilities and skills of girl students in the Kingdom’s various cities and towns and promote their scientific inventions,” he said.
Abdul Hafeez Muhammad, director of the club, said the formation of the new council would help improve the scientific standard of girl students as it will hold various programs and activities for them. He said that the council had discussed a videoconferencing program by satellite for outstanding secondary and university girl students in the Makkah region with their counterparts in Japan.
The program will be held at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Jeddah and Riyadh and Saudi Embassy in Tokyo by the end of this year in cooperation with the Japanese ministries of foreign and education. The council meeting also approved the work plan for the 2003-2004 academic year.
