It’s the fourth uniformed sector to open up in recent months.
Come the end of June, Saudi women will legally be allowed to drive. However, that’s not all that’s set to change.
Saudi Arabia’s civil defence force will now recruit women, Gulf News reports.
The move follows similar decisions to encourage female applicants for roles in the kingdom’s traffic police, passport control, and military.
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For the first time, Sharjah has hired female firefighters
Deputy Director General of Civil Defence for Safety Affairs Abdul Rahman Al Hussaini said the changes were in action, the site says.
“We are working with the Ministry of Education to adopt safety engineering and fire science courses for both sexes in a number of universities,” Gulf News quotes the official.
“We have covered up to 50 per cent with Princess Nourah University, and we continue to work with other universities on the matter.
“There is a wide participation by women, especially during Haj and Umrah, in performing specific tasks,” Al Hussaini said.
The announcement mirrors one made closer to come, with Sharjah’s recent hiring of 15 women firefighters.
Here, Emirates Civil Defence Training Academy firefighting director Sylvian Theirault told The National that women’s problem-solving skills made them a natural fit for the role.
“The job is not just about strength and fitness, it is also about thinking in difficult situations and resolving problems under pressure,” he said.
Recent changes in Saudi have come as part of Vision 2030, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s ambitious post-oil economic plan which aims to make Saudi a more modern, tourist-friendly destination.
Last September, a royal decree revealed women will be able to secure driving licences from June 2018, with the news widely celebrated around the globe.
As part of the initiative, the government also aims to increase the percentage of women in the nation’s workforce from 23 per cent to 28 per cent by 2020.
Additionally, more Saudi females have been appointed to top jobs, a royal directive allowed women to use certain government services without a male guardian’s consent, and recent approval was issued for the go-ahead of women’s gyms.
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