Arab women and their protection took center stage at a regional workshop held by the UN in Beirut this week.

 

Held on Tuesday and Wednesday at the United Nations House in the Lebanese capital, the workshop to support women in the Arab region was organized by the UN’s Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) and the Arab League. 

 

A new police uniform has been developed specifically for Muslim women in an attempt to recruit more black and minority ethnic officers. West Yorkshire Police is the first force in the country to launch the new loose fitting uniform ‘designed not to show the female form’, bosses said. It is hoped the uniforms will improve race equality among applicants after police chiefs were told to do more to appeal to BAME recruits.

 

Riyadh-based carrier Flynas has announced plans to recruit Saudi women to work as co-pilots and flight attendants for the first time, just months after the kingdom lifted a ban on female motorists.

 

Saudi Arabia in June ended a longstanding ban on women driving cars as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman seeks to improve women's participation in the workforce and implement his Vision 2030.

 

Literacy gap between women and men is decreasing in Iran, reaching to 12 percent compared to 40 percent three decades ago.

 

According to the latest statistics released by the Statistical Center of Iran, in the Iranian calendar year 1395 (March 2016-March 2017), the number of illiterate women was 5,569,035 while the number of illiterate men was 3,226,518.

 

However, the number of literate women in the same year was 29,753,843 and the number of literate man stood at 32,912,917.

 

Two months have passed since the official lifting of the ban on women driving in Saudi Arabia. The majority of women in Saudi Arabia are planning to drive a car. According to a new survey by YouGov, 24 percent of women have applied for a driving license since June 2018 and 61 percent of women who haven’t applied yet are willing to apply in the future.

However, there are women who are not willing to apply for a driving license. They have several concerns, most of them around safety.

Muslim American Olympian Ibtihajj Muhammad, who performed Hajj this year, told Arab News that during her pilmgrimage one of the best experiences was seeing people from different parts of the world unite in devotion to their faith. 

 

“It is something as a Muslim growing up and living in the US that you don’t get the opportunity to see. I feel I get that sense when I travel to the Middle East, particularly this trip to Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj — it is something I will never forget,” she said.