Recent stories from sustg

  • Saudi Arabia to Send Olympic Women Athletes for First Time
     

    Saudi Arabia will send female athletes to the Olympic Games for the first time, the International Olympic Committee said, ending a ban by the kingdom where women aren’t allowed to drive. Wodjan Ali Seraj Abdulrahim Shahrkhani will compete in judo at the London Games and Sarah Attar will run the 800 meters. The athletes, who […]

     
  • Saudis allow women to compete
     

    Saudi Arabia is to allow its women athletes to compete in the Olympics for the first time. Officials say the country’s Olympic Committee will “oversee participation of women athletes who can qualify”. The decision will end recent speculation as to whether the entire Saudi team could have been disqualified on grounds of gender discrimination.

     
  • Education, Women’s Empowerment and Change
     

    There has been a significant investment in education, which is great. In the last eight or nine years the number of Saudi Universities has more than quadrupled from about seven to over 30. Some of that increase has been through splitting up existing, very large universities, like King Abdul Aziz University, into more manageable sizes. […]

     
  • Wider world opened to Saudis studying abroad
     

    Wearing the black face-covering veil favoured by Saudi women, Maha Mazyad looked through leaflets for prospective jobs with some of the Islamic kingdom’s largest companies at a recent career fair in Riyadh. A few years ago she would have worried about the disapproving reaction of friends and parents to the notion of a young woman […]

     
  • Saudi female entrepreneurs exploit changing attitudes
     

    In Saudi Arabia, a small but determined number of women are overcoming obstacles to build their own thriving businesses. Social constraints in the conservative Kingdom have not stopped women from amassing substantial individual wealth. An estimated $11.9 billion is held by women primarily in bonds and bank accounts, according to asset managers Al Masah Capital. […]

     
  • Saudi Women Tackle Everest to Advance Breast Cancer Awareness
     

    To the ten Saudi women attempting a punishing ascent to a major milestone on the world’s highest peak, the dangers of reaching the Mount Everest base camp are no match for their cause. As a part of an ever-growing effort in Saudi Arabia, the campaign, “A Woman’s Journey: Destination Mount Everest,” intends to raise awareness […]

     
  • Effat University on the Forefront of Change in Saudi Arabia
     

    I was also impressed to see Effat graduating a quarter of its students from its College of Engineering, which it established in partnership with Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering. When I first visited Effat seven years ago, it was still in the early stages of establishing engineering as a degree, a first for women […]

     
  • Saudi Arabia’s First Female Director Brings ‘Wadjda’ to Cannes
     

    Wadjda, the first-ever film shot in Saudi Arabia, hits the Cannes market as The Match Factory begins pre-sales at Cannes’ Marche du Film on the coming-of-age drama from Haiffa al Mansour, the first female Saudi filmmaker. Haifaa wrote and directed Wadjda, which tells the ordinary but uplifting story of Wadjda, an 11-year-old girl growing up in […]

     
  • Seven years of prosperity and development
     

    Saudi Arabia will mark the seventh anniversary of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah’s accession to the Saudi throne on May 17 with a variety of programs highlighting the remarkable progress achieved by the Kingdom in education, health, industry, agriculture and other sectors under his wise leadership. King Abdullah’s announcement at the Shoura […]

     
  • 10 Saudi women take fight against breast cancer to Mount Everest
     

    Princess Reema bint Bandar bin Sultan and the Zahra Breast Cancer Association launched a campaign on Tuesday where 10 Saudi women will climb to the Mount Everest base camp in May. The 10 climbers include Jude Al-Aitani, Asma Al-Sharif, Mashael Alhegelan, Mona Shahab, Noura Bouzo, Raha Al-Moharrak, Lina Almaeena, Samaher Mously, Hatun Madani, Alya Al-Sa’ad, […]

     

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