Oman Vision 2040 promises enhanced economic and skill empowerment for women by enhancing opportunities, exchange of ideas between Omani and other Gulf countries and boosting expertise from different experiences in light of a unified philosophy and goal to achieve overall sustainability.
A two-day forum on “Omani women and indicators of economic and knowledge empowerment within Oman Vision 2040’ kicked off on Monday under the auspices of HH Sayyida Dr Mona bint Fahd bin Mahmood al Said. Dr. Laila bint Ahmed al Najar, Minister of Social Development, and several high-level officials, members of the State Council, and a large group of invitees were present during the inaugural session of the forum.
Organised by the Ministry of Social Development in cooperation with Sultan Qaboos University, the forum aims to shed light on the latest trends and aspirations towards raising the indicators of Omani women.
In her statement, Dr. Laila al Najar, said: “Since the launch of the blessed renaissance by the late Sultan Qaboos, the importance of the real partnership of Omani women in building a strong society alongside men has been emphasised. Women have been sharing the full opportunity to participate in various fields of comprehensive development. Believing in this role, Omani women have received noble sublime attention and care in light of the march of the renewed renaissance led by His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik, who emphasized that Omani women enjoy their rights guaranteed by law, and work with men in various fields; serving their country as an essential partner in development.”
She added that Omani women represented 49.6 percent of the total population of the Sultanate of Oman until the end of December 2021, which means half the number. “With this percentage, the women have made a difference in education, health, and community development. Women continue to innovate in various areas of life to overcome its difficulties and hardships, to advance this dear country”.
She also said, “The number of Omani women working in the private sector for the past year 2021 is 108,481 out of the total Omanis working in this sector. The numbers, however, will continue to rise, telling Omani women’s success stories and highlighting the outcome of their work in the economic, scientific and innovation fields, while stressing their determination to continue researching and investigating everything that contributes to the advancement and progress of this dear country.”
Sayyid Dr. Adham bin Turki al Said of Sultan Qaboos University presented ‘Readings on women’s economic empowerment, which included the concept of “development” as the process of improving the quality of living and human capabilities by raising the standard of living of individuals, self-respect and freedom.
He also touched upon aspects related to economic empowerment such as the state basic system and the goals of sustainable development in 2030, as well as the challenges facing women in the labour sector such as experience, lack of training and specialization. Dr. Adham also talked about how to empower women economically in terms of comprehensiveness in participation, flexibility in choice, social protection, and competition in supply.
On the first day, the forum discussed national mechanisms towards empowering Omani women within the vision of “Oman 2040 and the developmental trends of Omani women within the indicators of sustainable development 2030.
On Tuesday, eight papers will be presented by academics and social experts.
