For the very first time, two women members of the Shura Council formed part of a Saudi Arabian delegation to an IPU Assembly. Dr Lubna Al-Ansary and Dr. Hanan Al-ahmadi attended the IPU’s 128th Assembly in the Ecuadorian capital of Quito this week. They are among the 30 women selected to join the previously all-male council by the Saudi King Abdullah in January 2013, where women now make up 20% of its members. Dr Al-ahmadi believes her involvement will be invaluable in her work as a politician: “It has been a huge learning experience for me to be part of the Assembly. You learn about the different projects for the empowerment of different groups in society, whether for children, the handicapped or women, and the different mechanisms to include those groups into the decision-making process,” she said. The Assembly also provided the Saudi women with the opportunity to meet other women MPs. “One of the best parts of the Assembly has been meeting my fellow female counterparts from around the world and feeling the overwhelming pleasure they had in seeing Saudi women finally making it to the Shura Council,” said Dr Hanan Al-ahmadi. “Meeting the other women MPs was a very rich experience for me,” agreed Dr Lubna al-Ansary. “As a result of the Assembly, I feel more tuned to serve the needs of the country and offer a larger perspective.”
(We invite our users to read more news from IPU)
For the very first time, two women members of the Shura Council formed part of a Saudi Arabian delegation to an IPU Assembly. Dr Lubna Al-Ansary and Dr. Hanan Al-ahmadi attended the IPU’s 128th Assembly in the Ecuadorian capital of Quito this week. They are among the 30 women selected to join the previously all-male council by the Saudi King Abdullah in January 2013, where women now make up 20% of its members. Dr Al-ahmadi believes her involvement will be invaluable in her work as a politician: “It has been a huge learning experience for me to be part of the Assembly. You learn about the different projects for the empowerment of different groups in society, whether for children, the handicapped or women, and the different mechanisms to include those groups into the decision-making process,” she said. The Assembly also provided the Saudi women with the opportunity to meet other women MPs. “One of the best parts of the Assembly has been meeting my fellow female counterparts from around the world and feeling the overwhelming pleasure they had in seeing Saudi women finally making it to the Shura Council,” said Dr Hanan Al-ahmadi. “Meeting the other women MPs was a very rich experience for me,” agreed Dr Lubna al-Ansary. “As a result of the Assembly, I feel more tuned to serve the needs of the country and offer a larger perspective.”
(We invite our users to read more news from IPU)