BEIRUT: Saudi Arabia will get its first woman ambassador in
Riyadh with the appointment of a female envoy from Belgium, according to
reports in the Belgian media.
Belgium will send
Dominique Mineur, currently its ambassador to the United Arab Emirates,
to Riyadh next summer, making her the first woman ambassador in the
Saudi capital.
Saudi Arabia is regarded as one of the
world’s most gender-segregated nations, where women live under the
supervision of a male guardian, and in public must wear head-to-toe
garments.
The country was ranked 138 of 144 countries in
the Global Gender Gap, a World Economic Forum study on how women fare
in economic and political participation, health and education.
The
Saudi government has announced a raft of reforms recently, including
allowing women to drive cars, trucks and ride motorcycles next year,
after being the only country in the world that banned women from being
on the road.
Mineur’s appointment, in addition to
reports that Belgium will also send a female ambassador to Tehran, has
not been officially announced by the ministry of foreign affairs.
However,
in a speech in Brussels on Monday, Foreign Minister Didier Reynders
said the decision to appoint female envoys to places like Tehran and
Riyadh, “should have been obvious”.
“(It) is further
evidence of the stakes of women’s rights in these countries, but above
all of our willingness to send the most competent people to positions
that are increasingly important on the international scene,” said
Reynders.
