No matter what is said or done, the agenda for Saudi women’s empowerment is here to stay; not because of what some might wish to believe is a result of Western influence to “democratize and liberate”, nor because of what others choose to label as “liberal secular thought”, but simply because of the current socio-economic reality that shows that the more Saudi women are marginalized from social, civic, political and economic life, the more this marginalization will have a negative impact on the development of our nation
A recently published study by the United Nations on human development noted that the Arab region ranked among the top countries that are high on individual income and yet among the lowest in the human development arena. One of the main reasons behind this development setback was the weak, if not the lack of, participation of women at any level of the development process.
A step toward finding a solution to the empowerment of women in Saudi Arabia is for the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to come up with a standard working plan to encourage Saudi women to start and develop their home-based businesses. Owning a home-based business not only empowers a woman to control her future, but it also gives her flexibility with time and allows her to contribute to the national economy by hiring other women to fulfill her business needs. This fact alone immediately places Saudi home-based businesswomen in a leadership role.
In fact, for many countries, the home-based business industry is a licensed engine for economic growth that has proven its viability through its significant contribution to the national GDP — as well as to the labor statistics of those nations. If planned well, creating an enabling environment to develop Saudi home-based businesses is a realistic solution toward resolving our current unemployment dilemma. Tragically enough, if we continue to ignore this golden opportunity, the industry will always remain a hidden “diamond in the rough”.
I say this because I have worked hand in hand with home-based businesswomen during my nine years at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry — and I have seen great potential for the growth of this sector if, and only if, a government-led plan of action is created to encourage its birth.
This insight was captured not so long ago when in 2003, and for the first time in the history of our national Chambers of Commerce, the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce took the lead by establishing a department to create a strategic plan of action to develop and activate this industry in the region. The department was called “The Department of Women Empowerment and Research” and I had the honor to found and direct it for three years prior to my sabbatical leave from this esteemed institution.
The strategy was based on the results of a survey that I carried out on 70 home-based businesswomen operating in the city of Jeddah. The survey showed that women who owned home businesses needed four critical enablers: a permanent marketing venue to showcase their merchandise, networking opportunities, access to reliable information and financial aid.
Based on that information, I formulated a three- year roll-out plan that first focused on training women to the detailed aspects of small-business management; then on providing them with marketing tools and resources and finally on lobbying with local and national government entities to formulate enabling policies (including financial incentives) to sustain this sector.
The first year we kicked off the plan with a “pilot’ micro-business training program that was carried out by The International Labor Organization. Ever since, The National Commercial Bank generously offered to sponsor all future training programs — and they have been doing so to this day through their “corporate social responsibility” department.
Year two was devoted to the creation of the “marketing venue” that was requested by most of the women who participated in the survey. For this I designed a local “contest” called “Ebdah” in which more than 100 women competed to showcase more than 300 of their productions. Thirty lucky finalists were able to exhibit their contested items in a trade show that was opened to the general public for over a period of five days.
The final year — year three — was to be devoted advocating for the cause. The first was for the Jeddah Chamber to convince the Jeddah Municipality to permanently allocate public land and space as a “weekend marketing venue” for home-based business owners. The second was for the Jeddah Chamber to work with the Ministry of Commerce to establish flexible enabling policies to encourage the startup and the development of this viable economic sector with the purpose of helping them to grow from the “home front” to the “store front”.
Still, such good-intentioned initiatives could not — and cannot — be led by the good will of independent institutions working alone. Economic development of all sectors of society cannot take place without a “standard national strategy”. And home-based business industries are no exception to that rule. Without determined leadership from decision-makers and policy creators, all individual efforts at supporting this sector will ultimately fail... thereby wasting valuable time, effort, and resources.
The truth of the matter is that we cannot ignore the creativity and economic contribution of Saudi home-based businesswomen. These women have, by their own will and determination, shifted from being employment-seekers to becoming employment-generators — and some of them have literally moved from starting up a business idea in the comfort and safe haven of their kitchens to moving out onto the high-profile public arena of their five-star restaurants. It is thanks to these women’s relentless entrepreneurial spirit that the heavy burdens of national unemployment are systematically being relieved. And it is time that Saudi Arabia begins to capture the significant economic impact these women have on our nation and its prosperity.
