A good day for progress in Saudi Arabia



King Abdullah's historic decree adding women to Shura Council makes a happy day for Saudis

The change is nothing short of historic: King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia issued a decree on Friday allowing women to become members of the Kingdom's Shura Council for the first time. It was "a happy day indeed for all Saudis", columnist Abdul Rahman Al Rashed wrote in the pan-Arab daily Asharq Al Awsat.

There will be a 20 per cent quota, so he appointed 30 women to take their seats within the 150-member advisory body.

Some may be astonished by the media fanfare that followed the announcement. But in Saudi Arabia this is a long and complex story, much more that just an issue of women and quotas in the Shura Council.

This step comes as a breakthrough in a kingdom well known for its conservative culture. For the past few years, the king has been cautiously introducing social reforms aimed at empowering women and modernising the economy.

Just recently, Saudi issued a series of decisions to "feminise" a number of businesses. This means allowing women to work in grocery stores and women's goods stores. But even these simple professions drew interminable arguments and wrangles between supporters of modernity and ultraconservative critics.

"Hence, to allow women into a political institution is yet another brave decision by King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz," said the writer.

The Saudi sovereign has been working towards enabling women in most areas. Thousands of Saudi women have gone to study abroad and have been granted employment in new professions. Also, women have been put into senior government positions and they participated in the previously male-dominated ministerial and diplomatic administration sectors.

"The king is leading the way to change and development that respond to the need to modernise the country and that acknowledge the rights of women who, contrary to the allegations of naysayers, have always had a significant role in Islamic history," added the writer.

The appointment of 30 women to the 150-member Shura Council holds considerable symbolic significant. It indicates that the state is leading the society, and is implementing a gradual transition process.

Should the government's plans to empower women succeed, many a balance will be reset, to society's advantage. The changes would improve many families incomes and increase of Saudi participation in the labour market.

More importantly, it would introduce new social values regarding the status and the rights of women.

"It is no longer logical that two million girls are given education opportunities, but once they graduate from the best universities they aren't given their rightful place in all sectors of society, politics and economy," noted Al Rashed.

What's behind Gulf's Brotherhood moves?

Those who follow media reports from around the Gulf will realise there is a campaign being waged against the Muslim Brotherhood and Islamists in general, wrote Abdulbari Atwan, the editor-in-chief of the London-based Al Quds Al Arabi.

"This campaign against the Brotherhood, and maybe Salafists later, runs against a legacy of alliance between the conservative Gulf states and [Brotherhood and Salafists]," he wrote. He offered six reasons for the campaign.

First, the Gulf states have realised that the Brotherhood is a global organisation that requires allegiance to its General Guide in Egypt, not to local authorities.

Second, the Brotherhood has had influence over future generations through its presence in education systems and ultimately within vital institutions such as the army and security apparatus.

The third reason is the weakness of liberals and leftists due to decades of suppression, which helped the Brotherhood to grow.

Fourth, Islamists have financial independence by virtue of their "intricate organisational web", that makes them powerful politically and financially.

The fifth reason is that Islamists have a popular base because of their religious background and their control of mosques, directly or indirectly.

Finally, non-Jihadist Islamists deliberately avoid any unnecessary confrontation with the state and exercise self-control.

Blizzard reveals plight of hapless refugees

The blizzard that hit the Levant last week uncovered the failure of the international community and humanitarian organisations to assume their responsibilities towards the numerous Syrian refugees, the Jordanian daily Addustour argued in its editorial on Saturday.

Extreme conditions tore the refugees' flimsy tents apart, leaving adults and children exposed to the unexpectedly harsh weather.

A number of people lost their lives; many more had new suffering added to their plight.

The horrible tragedy that three million Syrian refugees within Syria and in neighbouring countries are made to endure is a condemnation of the international community, the newspaper went on to say.

Two years into the crisis, the world has yet to stop the violence in Syria and rescue its people from worsening conditions. Shortages of basic necessities put them on the brink of famine.

"Support and solidarity statements from the international community and from host countries are no longer sufficient. The snowstorm that hit refugee camps in Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey has rendered that kind of literary rhetoric unusable.

"An international rescue campaign is of the essence to relieve the suffering of our brethren," concluded the paper.

* Digest compiled by The Translation Desk

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Anxiety and work stress major factors

Anxiety, work stress and social isolation are all factors in the recogised rise in mental health problems.

A study UAE Ministry of Health researchers published in the summer also cited struggles with weight and illnesses as major contributors.

Its authors analysed a dozen separate UAE studies between 2007 and 2017. Prevalence was often higher in university students, women and in people on low incomes.

One showed 28 per cent of female students at a Dubai university reported symptoms linked to depression. Another in Al Ain found 22.2 per cent of students had depressive symptoms - five times the global average.

It said the country has made strides to address mental health problems but said: “Our review highlights the overall prevalence of depressive symptoms and depression, which may long have been overlooked."

Prof Samir Al Adawi, of the department of behavioural medicine at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman, who was not involved in the study but is a recognised expert in the Gulf, said how mental health is discussed varies significantly between cultures and nationalities.

“The problem we have in the Gulf is the cross-cultural differences and how people articulate emotional distress," said Prof Al Adawi. 

“Someone will say that I have physical complaints rather than emotional complaints. This is the major problem with any discussion around depression."

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The UN General Assembly President in quotes:

YEMEN: “The developments we have seen are promising. We really hope that the parties are going to respect the agreed ceasefire. I think that the sense of really having the political will to have a peace process is vital. There is a little bit of hope and the role that the UN has played is very important.”

PALESTINE: “There is no easy fix. We need to find the political will and comply with the resolutions that we have agreed upon.”

OMAN: “It is a very important country in our system. They have a very important role to play in terms of the balance and peace process of that particular part of the world, in that their position is neutral. That is why it is very important to have a dialogue with the Omani authorities.”

REFORM OF THE SECURITY COUNCIL: “This is complicated and it requires time. It is dependent on the effort that members want to put into the process. It is a process that has been going on for 25 years. That process is slow but the issue is huge. I really hope we will see some progress during my tenure.”

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