Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, former Prime Minister of Norway and current Special Envoy on Climate Change for the United Nations Secretary-General, visited Saudi-Arabia in January. After addressing the condition of Saudi women at the Global Competitiveness Forum in Riyadh, she met with Ms. Ebtihal Mubarak from Arab News and spoke about gender issues in Saudi-Arabia.
05/02/2008 ::
During the interview, Dr. Brundtland stated that religion is not an obstacle for reform and equality; the difficulties that Saudi women are facing lies with the tradition and culture that people have been brought up with and which might be hard to break out from. “Whilst the UN may play an important role in opinion making, and impulses from abroad could inspire positive change, there is no one outside that can force change in Saudi Arabia. The change should come from Saudis themselves,” said dr. Brundtland, who encouraged young Saudis to start asking ”difficult questions”.
She stongly criticised the male guardianship system, and how Saudi women cannot undergo surgery in hospitals without their guardians’ approval. “It is outrageous that women are treated as if they were children,” said the former PM. She also expressed her deep shock at the case of the Qatif girl: “I find it hard to understand if a women is in a place where her brother or father is not there to protect her, then what happened to her is her fault. What kind of logic is behind this?”
Dr. Brundtland emphasised that although equality is important per se, it is also crucial in a global and economical perspective. She said she was shocked to learn that only 16 per cent of Saudi women work, in comparison to 75-80 per cent in Norway. “If you keep women down, society will never be as productive as you want it to be. Giving women opportunities is the key to advancement in all societies.”
The interview was published in Arab News on February 1st 2008.
Silje Bryne