RIYADH: During the official review of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 5 on Gender Equality, Dr. Tariq Alhamad, Saudi Arabia’s deputy minister for international affairs at the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, explained how Vision 2030 reforms are helping to remove barriers to women’s participation in economic and social life. “Vision 2030 is more than a set of goals,” he told reporters. “It brings government, civil society, and the private sector into shared delivery,” he told the 2025 UN High-Level Political Forum in New York City on Tuesday.
“We’ve concentrated not just on legislation, but also on the support mechanisms that women require to fully engage, such as employment, childcare, and dependable transportation. “There’s more to do, but we’ve made real progress, and we’re determined to build on it,” Alhamad told the crowd. He highlighted Vision 2030 as a national framework that is closely aligned with the SDGs and serves as the foundation for long-term development.
The deputy minister stated that female labor participation rose to 36.3 percent in the first quarter of 2025, up from 19.7 percent in 2018. Initiatives such as Qurrah, which has assisted over 40,000 women with childcare, and Wusool, which has assisted over 300,000 women with transportation to and from work, have been critical to this transition. Maternity leave has been extended to 12 weeks with full compensation, and around 1.3 million women are now working freelance.
Also Read:
Dubai Spearheads the Tokenized Revolution, Bringing Gold into the Digital Era
Scaling Visibility: The Global SEO Approach of Nikolas Monti-Potsolakis
