JEDDAH, 12 February 2007 — Saudi women will soon be eligible to take up diplomatic work at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, according to a leading official at the Institute of Diplomatic Studies.
“There is an inclination to open the diplomatic sector for women at the institute and the minister of foreign affairs is very keen on women working in the ministry,” said Dr. Muhammad Al-Uwaydi, director of the Periodicals and Publishing Department at the Institute of Diplomatic Studies. The institute was established 27 years ago to serve the Foreign Affairs Ministry by training Saudi diplomats.
Al-Uwaydi said seminars were being held to train the wives of diplomats before they travel abroad with their husbands. Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal announced two years ago that Saudi women would be employed at the ministry. The ministry had also began hiring Saudi women to work at the Kingdom’s missions abroad.
“So opening a section for women to qualify them for diplomatic work is in line with that,” said Al-Uwaydi while speaking to Arab News yesterday. Al-Uwaydi was visiting the Organization of the Islamic Conferences (OIC) with 20 male students from the institute.
The Institute of Diplomatic Studies organizes visits to relevant organizations and ministries as part of its practical training program. The institute offers diplomas to bachelor degree holders and holds training seminars for high-school certificate holders.
“We welcome joint training programs with institutes inside and outside the Kingdom. We have sent trainees to countries such as Germany, where we have a cooperation agreement with its Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” said Al-Uwaydi.
During the two-hour visit yesterday, officials from the OIC welcomed students and informed them of the organization’s objectives and activities. The students in turn asked questions about the OIC’s future plans and challenges.
To a question about changing the name of the organization, Ezzat Mufti, the OIC assistant secretary-general, said discussions on the issue were under way especially since there were efforts to review the organization’s entire charter.
Another question was about the problem of Christian missionaries in Africa. Talal Daus, director of the Muslim Minorities Department, answered that the OIC was coordinating various activities for Muslims in Africa.
Ghazi Bakash, director of the Islamic Solidarity Fund, also pointed to the financial and humanitarian support provided by the fund to Muslim minorities.
A student asked why the OIC focuses on women and human rights issues when the Muslim world is facing more serious and important issues. The student was referring to the introduction by Ambassador Mahdi Fathalla, director of the Political Affairs Department.
Mufti replied that there was a need to clarify Islam’s position on these issues because those targeting Islam were working to undermine it to achieve political and strategic goals. He added that naturally urgent issues such as Iraq have a priority.
Abderraouf Ben Rejeb, director of the OIC Information Department, said that improving and revitalizing Islamic media efforts was one of the organization’s new goals and that there was a meeting of the board of directors of the International Islamic News Agency and the Islamic States Broadcasting Organization at the end of this month to discuss ways of restructuring them.
