The Kingdom first announced the openings for women in January
The Saudi Arabia passport office has began training its first female recruits.
The two-week programme is set to begin on Sunday and will be rolled out across cities including Makkah, Madinah and Riyadh.
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The programme will see 290 women familiarise themselves with the world of work as well as procedures related to examining travel documents.
More than 100,000 women had applied for jobs in the passport office. Currently, there are only 140 roles available.
Just this week, the Kingdom held its first ever go-karting race, with ten contestants competing for prizes worth over $2,500 in Jeddah.
Saudi Arabia has marked a number of milestones for women’s rights over the past year, symbolising a new era for the kingdom.
In November, KSA appointed its first female speaker in its national council and a month later, opened its elections and candidates to women.
In June, the ban on women driving, which had been in place since 1957, came into effect.
A historic moment that symbolizes the #New #Saudi and its #Vision2030 in action …
Thank yous to everyone who made this possible…
New chapter is about to be written…#SaudiWomenDriving #SaudiArabian #LookAtMeNow#تستحقينها pic.twitter.com/ueiBHfrHxw— Muna AbuSulayman منى (@abusulayman) June 23, 2018
Saudi’s ambassador to the US, Prince Khaled bin Salman, heralded the milestone, calling it “a historic and big day” and “the right decision at the right time”, according to the BBC.
“I think our leadership understands our society is ready,” the ambassador told The Guardian when the ban was lifted, adding that women will not need a male guardian in the vehicle when they drive.
Here’s to another win for women’s rights!
Main image: Getty
