Saudi Arabia has appointed six cultural attaches, three of which are women, marking the first time women have been named to the diplomatic post, the Saudi Gazette reported on Sunday.
The Kingdom’s Minister of Education Dr. Hamd al-Sheikh appointed Dr. Amal Fatani as the Saudi Arabian cultural attaché to the United Kingdom, Dr. Fahdah al-Sheikh as the Kingdom’s representative in Ireland and Dr. Youssra al-Jazairi as the acting cultural attaché in Morocco.
This is the first time women have been named to this position, and they will work to build relations and strengthen cultural partnerships between the Kingdom and their assigned countries.
“The minister’s decisions are aimed to enhance the Kingdom’s educational and cultural presence at the international level, activate areas of joint cooperation, exchange scientific and research experiences, and coordinate scholarships for students to study in the Kingdom, supervising scholarship students abroad and facilitating their educational journey and investing their abilities to serve the country and participate in its future development,” the Saudi Gazette reported.
Other appointees include Dr. Ahmed al-Fareih who will serve as the cultural attaché in Egypt, Dr. Issa al-Romaih who will represent Saudi Arabia in Kuwait, and Dr. Saad al-Shabana who will be the Kingdom’s attaché in Kuwait.
The appointment of women to this post is in line with the Kingdom’s efforts to further boost female empowerment and increase the percent of women in the workforce.
Saudi Arabia will aim to provide jobs for 1 million Saudi Arabian women by 2030 as part of its Vision 2030 plan.
The Saudi Government should be careful in differentiating Islam from westernization. Western civilization is a very powerful contaminant to Islamic civilization. Never please human to displease Allah.
This reminds me of the Hadith that says Muslim will at a point continue to follow the non-Muslim to the extent that if they (the non-Muslims) decide to enter a hole, the Muslims will struggle to follow them.
Appointing women as attachè will no doubt be pleasant to the West but unfavorable to Shariah
Thank you, my brother.