Saudi Ministry of Culture: Women in Top Positions

The Saudi Ministry of Culture is keen on providing a supportive and attractive environment that helps women innovate and excel.
The Saudi Ministry of Culture is keen on providing a supportive and attractive environment that helps women innovate and excel.
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Saudi Ministry of Culture: Women in Top Positions

The Saudi Ministry of Culture is keen on providing a supportive and attractive environment that helps women innovate and excel.
The Saudi Ministry of Culture is keen on providing a supportive and attractive environment that helps women innovate and excel.

Ever since its establishment some two years ago, the Saudi Ministry of Culture has been seeking to achieve the goals of Vision 2030 through various channels.

Among them is the empowerment of women and bolstering their presence in the cultural field. This was achieved not just through supporting innovative Saudi women in various cultural sectors, but through hiring more women in the field. The ministry achieved record levels in this regard, whereby nearly 50 percent of its employees are women.

This high figure underscores the ministry’s keenness on providing a supportive and attractive environment that helps women innovate and excel.

These achievements reflect the faith Minister of Culture Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan has in women and their abilities to play a leading role in the cultural sector.

In a statement, the ministry said that the latest figures reveal that women make up 35 percent of the workforce in the Kingdom. They make up 38 percent of the public sector and 32 percent of the private one.

The ministry has in a short period of time succeeded in forging a generation of Saudi female leaders, enabling them to revive the cultural sector, whether as part of the ministry itself or through various cultural institutions.

Saudi women have played major roles in the ministry by leading its agencies and internal administrations, as well as various projects.

Established names in the sector include Dr. Sumaya Al-Sulaiman, CEO of the Architecture and Design Commission; Noha Qattan, Executive Director of National Partnerships and Development at Ministry of Culture; Dina Amin, CEO of the Visual Arts Commission; Dur Kattan, General Director of Communication and Media at the Ministry of Culture; and Mayada Badr, CEO of the Culinary Arts Authority.

The Ministry of Culture said that it was relying on both genders in implementing its national cultural project.

Dr. Al-Sulaiman believes that women and men play a fundamental role in acting as producers and promoters of culture.

The empowerment of women is very important, she said.

Women must have their space and voice and they must contribute in spreading their culture, as an individual or as a member of society, where they can highlight the female experience and play an impactful role in the Saudi cultural scene, she added.

Noha Kattan hailed the work environment at the Ministry of Culture, which she said allows women and men to excel.

The ministry, she said, provides them with the elements of success, support, empowerment and development.

She also praised the ministry for remaining abreast the developments of Vision 2030 by offering fair opportunities to women.



Hajj Pilgrims Embark on Day of Tashreeq

Muslim pilgrims arrive to perform the symbolic stoning of the devil ritual as part of the Hajj pilgrimage in Mina, near Saudi Arabia's holy city of Makkah, on June 16, 2024. (AFP)
Muslim pilgrims arrive to perform the symbolic stoning of the devil ritual as part of the Hajj pilgrimage in Mina, near Saudi Arabia's holy city of Makkah, on June 16, 2024. (AFP)
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Hajj Pilgrims Embark on Day of Tashreeq

Muslim pilgrims arrive to perform the symbolic stoning of the devil ritual as part of the Hajj pilgrimage in Mina, near Saudi Arabia's holy city of Makkah, on June 16, 2024. (AFP)
Muslim pilgrims arrive to perform the symbolic stoning of the devil ritual as part of the Hajj pilgrimage in Mina, near Saudi Arabia's holy city of Makkah, on June 16, 2024. (AFP)

The Hajj pilgrims will embark on the day of Tashreeq on Monday, after arriving in Mina from Muzdalifah.

The pilgrims left Mount Arafat on Saturday evening to spend their night in Muzdalifah, where they collected pebbles to use in the symbolic stoning of pillars representing the devil.

The pilgrims performed the Tawaf al-Ifada at the Grand Mosque without incident due to the high level organization and crowd management.

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz congratulated on Sunday Muslims on the occasion of Eid al-Adha.

In a tweet on the X platform, he asked God Almighty for security and stability to prevail in Arab and Islamic nations and for security and stability to be maintained in Saudi Arabia and among its people.

Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia, received on Sunday on behalf of King Salman, princes, the Kingdom’s Grand Mufti, clerics, ministers, invitees from Gulf countries and leaders of military sectors on the occasion of Eid and the Hajj pilgrimage.

He congratulated the gatherers on the occasion of Eid, and praised the leaders of security and military sectors involved in the Hajj for their great efforts in service of the pilgrims that have ensured that they have a smooth spiritual journey.

The state and its concerned sectors will continue to provide all services that will help in serving the visitors of the two holy mosques, he added before the gatherers at Mina palace.

More than 1.83 million Muslims performed Hajj in 2024, Saudi Hajj and Umrah Minister Tawfiq bin Fawzan al-Rabiah said in a briefing.