In a first, 60 Saudi Arabian women join fishery training

Riyadh: For the first time in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s history, a total of 60 Saudi women are breaking gender barriers as they are being trained to become fisherwomen, local media reported.

These women have been accepted into a project to qualify for the fishing profession and training is provided by the National Fisheries Development Programme of the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture.

According to Arabic daily Al Arabiya, the women are being trained to fish safely and earn money from their catch. They will also be trained on how to sell and market their products.

The program was launched to achieve sustainable development and increase the contribution of the fisheries and aquaculture sector to the Kingdom’s GDP in line with Vision 2030 to diversify the Saudi economy.

It is worth noting that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in recent years has instituted reforms to enhance women’s participation in economic development, including unifying the retirement age for both sexes, and working on eliminating gender discrimination in terms of wages, job type, field and working hours.

The past few years have witnessed significant growth in the rate of Saudi women’s participation in the labor market. Three years ago, the participation rate of Saudi women was 20.5 percent, then it rose rapidly to 33.6 per cent in the first quarter of 2022.