Ashrraf AboArafe
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) affirmed everything that would protect and advance women’s rights locally, regionally and internationally, and enhance their role in social development processes by effectively and truly enabling them to participate in high-level decision-making processes in all governmental and civil sectors, socially, economically and politically.
This came in the Kingdom’s final statement during the sixty-fifth session of the Commission on the Status of Women, held at the United Nations headquarters in New York, delivered by a member of the Kingdom’s delegation, Mona Saleh Al-Ghamdi.
At the beginning of the statement, Al-Ghamdi thanked the Kingdom’s delegation to the members of the office of the sixty-fifth session of 2021, to the permanent representative of Armenia to the United Nations, Mir Margarian, to the Vice President Ahlam Al-Shuraikhi, to the Vice-President and the facilitator for the negotiation of the agreed conclusions document for this session, Na Sang Duke, to the Secretariat of UN Women, and to all Participating delegations, on their efforts to achieve consensus throughout the negotiation period on the final document, which focuses this year on the full and effective participation of women and their decision-making in public life, the elimination of violence, the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, which lasted for five consecutive weeks even before our meeting.
Al-Ghamdi stated that the Kingdom’s delegation has consistently pursued the approach of participating in negotiations in a constructive spirit, eager to achieve consensus whenever possible, and in a manner that does not contradict our Islamic law, our national regulations and principles, stressing the delegation’s keenness to reach a document that reinforces the march of the major and historic reforms that the Kingdom has achieved and is still under The leadership of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and His Royal Highness Prince Muhammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense – may God protect them -.
She said: Leadership – may God protect it – women are an active member in the national development process in all its fields, and they are the core of the family and society and a fundamental member in achieving the Kingdom’s 2030 vision, which has promoted reforms in the status of women and their empowerment, making it easier for them to perform their national duties.
Mona Al-Ghamdi explained that despite the Kingdom’s keenness to engage from the first day in the negotiation process in a transparent and positive manner, and its eagerness to present compromises to reach a consensual solution that takes into account all parties, we express our dissatisfaction with the preservation of a number of languages and controversial signals that we expressed Our position towards it since the beginning of the negotiations is clear and frank.
She added: Accordingly, the delegation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia would like to reiterate that the reference to gender in the text precisely means “male or female”, and that the reference to the family in the text means the family that is based on marriage between a man and a woman, and in the event that these terms exit Regarding its objectives, my country affirms its full sovereign right to reserve the implementation of any recommendations that contradict the principles of our Islamic religion, our internal legislation and our national systems.
