Saudi Arabia allows women to join its Border Guards

Kingdom steps up female recruitment in the security sector

Saudi policewomen take part in a military parade for the first time on National Day in Riyadh in September. AFP

Women in Saudi Arabia can now register to join the Border Guards unit at the rank of private, the kingdom’s Interior Ministry said on Thursday.

The move comes as part of the kingdom’s move to increase the number of women in government and private sector roles.

The changes are part of the kingdom's Vision 2030, which seeks to reform almost every aspect of life and government, including the empowerment of women.

Saudi Arabia opened posts in the military to women for the first time in February last year.

Applicants for the Border Guards roles must be Saudi, aged from 25 to 35, must not have a criminal record and must meet the required qualifications.

Applications will be open from Saturday to Thursday, March 26 to 31, via the kingdom's Absher portal.

Women now have the opportunity to join the army, royal air defence, the navy, the royal Saudi strategic missile forces and the medical services of the armed forces.

Their ranks can range from private to sergeant.

Saudi Arabia's female taxi drivers - in pictures

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  Taxi driver Fahda Fahd sits in her car in Saudi Arabia's capital, Riyadh. Like other Saudi women, Ms Fahd couldn't legally drive until 2018, but her lime-green Kia now gives her a way to make extra cash as living costs soar in the conservative kingdom. All Photos: AFP

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  Ms Fahd talks to a potential passenger.

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  Ms Fahd says her family is supportive of her second job, on two conditions: no long trips or men as passengers.

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  'My salary is not enough for my three children, and especially for my daughter who has special needs,' she says.

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  Ms Fahd earns a salary of 4,000 Saudi riyals ($1,066) a month from her regular job and driving brings in another 2,500 riyals.

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  Millions of Saudi women are finding jobs as female employment gains acceptance in the deeply conservative society.

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  Women made up more than a third of the workforce last year for the first time, government figures showed.

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  Since 2018, more than 200,000 women have obtained driving licences, with car sales rising five percent last year, media reports say.

Last September, Saudi Arabia's first female recruits graduated from the Armed Forces Women's Cadre Training Centre, the first time in the kingdom's history that women will begin service in frontline roles.

Women have been part of public security in the kingdom since 2019, in the General Directorate of Prisons, Criminal Evidence and Customs, and the General Directorate of Narcotics.

Saudi Arabia plans to invest more than $10 billion in the military industry over the next decade, the governor of the General Authority for Military Industries said last year.

The country will also spend the same amount on military research and development.