Melania and Ivanka hail progress, empowerment of Saudi women
riyadh — US First Lady Melania Trump praised the “empowerment of women” at a General Electric all-female service centre in the Saudi capital on Sunday, saying the women should work together and educate their children well.
She is accompanying US President Donald Trump on his first international visit since taking office in January, and told 200 female employees she tried to find balance between her role of First Lady and mother.
“It is about finding the balance,” she told the women, who took pictures of her with their smartphones. Later on Twitter, she wrote “Enjoyed talking to the incredible women working hard @GE_Saudi service center. Great strides being made towards the empowerment of women.”
Dressed in a tan knee-length dress, Melania shared a photo of herself with seven women dressed in abayas, the loose-fitting, fulllength robes local women are required to wear in public in Saudi Arabia.
She earlier visited the American International School of Riyadh and gave out books. The school, unlike most others in the conservative
Saudi Arabia’s progress, especially in recent years, is very encouraging. But there’s still a lot of work to be done and freedoms and opportunities to continue to fight for Ivanka Trump
kingdom, has both male and female students of different nationalities.
Saudi Arabia is well known as the world’s most gender-segregated nation, where women live under the supervision of a male guardian and need his permission to travel, study and get some health treatments.
Trump’s daughter Ivanka also said that Saudi Arabia has made “encouraging” progress in empowering women but more freedom is needed.
“Saudi Arabia’s progress, especially in recent years, is very encouraging,” Trump’s eldest daughter told a group of Saudi women she met in Riyadh.
“But there’s still a lot of work to be done and freedoms and opportunities to continue to fight for,” added Ivanka, who serves as an advisor to her father.
“Around the world women continue to achieve unprecedented levels of rights and freedoms. Today you all stand on the frontlines of the fight for gender equality,” she told a roundtable of women led by Princess Reema bint Bandar, deputy president of the Women’s Sports Authority.
Riyadh has pledged a programme of social and economic reforms as part of the ambitious “Vision 2030” strategy launched last year.
A royal decree earlier this month reportedly stipulated that women are no longer required to obtain a male guardian’s consent to carry out certain activities.
In Febraury, a Saudi woman was appointed to head the Saudi stock exchange, Tadawul, while another was appointed as head of the major bank Samba. “The stories of Saudi women, such as yourselves, catalysing change, inspire me to believe in the possibility of global women’s empowerment,” said Ivanka.— Reuters, AFP