Ivanka Trump praises progress made by Saudi Arabia in gender equality
January 17, 2020, 10:52 am

Ivanka Trump praises progress made by Saudi Arabia in gender equality

Ivanka Trump, the daughter and senior adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump, answers a question as she is interviewed. (File photo AP)

Ivanka Trump has come out in praise of Saudi Arabia and other countries whose economies have made major progress globally toward gender equality, according to a World Bank study that was released on Wednesday.

“Great seeing some big progress in countries with the most-improved scores in this year’s World Bank WBL Report,” tweeted Ivanka.

https://twitter.com/IvankaTrump/status/1217929440384167938

The World Bank’s “Women, Business and the Law 2020” Report measures gender inequality in the law and tracks 190 economies.

Saudi Arabia’s economy made the biggest progress globally toward gender equality since 2017 in the WBL 2020 Report at 70.6 points out of 100, a dramatic increase from its previous score of 31.8 points.

Saudi Arabia, according to the World Bank press release, made advances in women’s mobility, sexual harassment, retirement age, and economic activity.

The study found the Kingdom enacted reforms in six out of eight indicators associated with women’s economic empowerment, from June 2017 to September 2019.

The other countries on the list were: UAE, Nepal, South Sudan, Sao Tome, and Principe, Bahrain, DRC, Djibouti, Jordan, and Tunisia.

US President Donald Trump’s daughter and senior adviser, Ivanka has been promoting the Women’s Global Development and Prosperity (WDGP) Initiative, which was launched in February 2019 to benefit women in developing countries.

“Report shows the global average score is 75.2, meaning the average woman has three-fourth of the legal rights for economic empowerment afforded to men. Removing the legal barriers that prevent women from working is a core pillar of WGDP,” she pointed out.

https://twitter.com/IvankaTrump/status/1217929438056402944

Ivanka also lamented the fact that 90 economies still prohibit women from working in the same jobs/industries as men.

“Removing the legal barriers is a core mission of WGDP,” she said.

Several Twitter users thanked the president’s daughter for sharing the report and said they owed the recent reforms in the country to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

https://twitter.com/mohd_alsultan9/status/1217937240552280064

https://twitter.com/alosaimi_007/status/1217944077477515264

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BENEFIT, the Kingdom’s innovator and leading company in Fintech and electronic financial transactions service, has sponsored the BuildHer CityHack 2025 Hackathon, a two-day event spearheaded by the College of Engineering and Technology at the Royal University for Women (RUW).
Aimed at secondary school students, the event brought together a distinguished group of academic professionals and technology experts to mentor and inspire young participants.
More than 100 high school students from across the Kingdom of Bahrain took part in the hackathon, which featured an intensive programme of training workshops and hands-on sessions. These activities were tailored to enhance participants’ critical thinking, collaborative problem-solving, and team-building capabilities, while also encouraging the development of practical and sustainable solutions to contemporary challenges using modern technological tools.
BENEFIT’s Chief Executive Mr. Abdulwahed AlJanahi, commented: “Our support for this educational hackathon reflects our long-term strategic vision to nurture the talents of emerging national youth and empower the next generation of accomplished female leaders in technology. By fostering creativity and innovation, we aim to contribute meaningfully to Bahrain’s comprehensive development goals and align with the aspirations outlined in the Kingdom’s Vision 2030—an ambition in which BENEFIT plays a central role.”
Professor Riyadh Yousif Hamzah, President of the Royal University for Women, commented: “This initiative reflects our commitment to advancing women in STEM fields. We're cultivating a generation of creative, solution-driven female leaders who will drive national development. Our partnership with BENEFIT exemplifies the powerful synergy between academia and private sector in supporting educational innovation.”
Hanan Abdulla Hasan, Senior Manager, PR & Communication at BENEFIT, said: “We are honoured to collaborate with RUW in supporting this remarkable technology-focused event. It highlights our commitment to social responsibility, and our ongoing efforts to enhance the digital and innovation capabilities of young Bahraini women and foster their ability to harness technological tools in the service of a smarter, more sustainable future.”
For his part, Dr. Humam ElAgha, Acting Dean of the College of Engineering and Technology at the University, said: “BuildHer CityHack 2025 embodies our hands-on approach to education. By tackling real-world problems through creative thinking and sustainable solutions, we're preparing women to thrive in the knowledge economy – a cornerstone of the University's vision.”