Ivanka lauds Saudi Arabia, UAE on women’s rights reforms

Monitoring Desk

DUBAI: Ivanka Trump lauded close US allies Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates on Sunday, for embarking on “significant reforms” to advance women’s rights, while speaking at a gathering of women entrepreneurs and regional leaders in Dubai.

Trump congratulated Saudi Arabia for recent changes in the law that allow women to travel abroad and obtain a passport without the permission of a male relative. In 2018, a ban on women driving cars was lifted. The changes are part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, which aims to diversify Saudi Arabia’s economy beyond oil and gas and to promote private sector growth and entrepreneurship. It includes the goal of increasing women’s labor force participation from 22 percent to 30 percent.

Trump pointed to changes in other Mideast countries, as well. She said Bahrain had introduced legislation against discrimination in the workplace; Jordan had eliminated legal restrictions on women’s ability to work at night; Morocco had expanded women’s land rights; and Tunisia had introduced laws to combat domestic violence.

She said, though, more work needed to be done. She noted that across the region, women on average still have only half the legal rights of men. Trump, adviser to US President Trump, was delivering the keynote address at the two-day Global Women’s Forum.

“We know that when women are free to succeed, families thrive, communities flourish and nations are stronger,” Trump said.

She has positioned herself as an Oval Office confidante while spearheading initiatives that broadly back women’s empowerment. Her husband Kushner has become a top adviser on US Mideast policy. Once the owner of an eponymous fashion line, Ivanka Trump has wielded her proximity to the president to promote policies affecting women and deliver speeches around the world about women’s empowerment. (AP)