Saudi Princess Notes 2 Factors Holding Women Down - Building Gender Balanced Business

• Princess Loulwa Al-Faisal Bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia bemoaned the low status of women around the world when she gave the keynote address at the 12th anniversary Women in Business International Forum in London.

• Princess Loulwa addressed two factors that add to women’s vulnerability in general and especially during the current economic crisis:
1. “[T]he continued marginalization of women’s status in most of the world” — including how women hold, according to her data, only a 10% share of global income and just 14% of private- and public-sector leadership positions.
2. “[T]the marginalization of women’s voices in discussions that affect the policies dealing with this crisis” — including “ignoring women’s voices in general; and business women in particular”.

• “Both of these issues hinder women’s abilities to effectively participate in solving economic problems and actively discourage them from tapping their financial wealth,” Princess Loulwa said.

• But the princess, who is also vice-chair of the Board of Trustees and supervisor general of Effat University in Jeddah, offered hope, saying, “The empowerment of women is … a reflection of a nation’s vision and its progressive perception of women in leadership positions.”

• In Saudi Arabia itself, she noted, “There has been a steady but slow increase in Saudi woman’s entrepreneurship.”

The Saudi Gazette report