MUSCAT: The Sultanate participated in a 16-day campaign marking the International Day for Elimination of Violence Against Women.
The annual campaign, organised by the United Nations since 2008, aims to raise public awareness against the social phenomenon of violence against women and girls in some parts of the world.
The Ministry of Social Development will observe the event by organising an awareness campaign titled ‘Qarri Aynan’ or ‘Cool Thine Eye’ (Holy Quran quote evoking respect for a female).
The campaign includes the broadcasting of a documentary film and the dissemination of awareness messages via telecom companies or platforms or social media networks affiliated to the ministry and other participating departments.
There will also be radio, television and newspaper interviews on the topic of the campaign.
Wadha bint Salim al Alawi, Director of Women’s Affairs Department at the Ministry, in an interview to Oman News Agency (ONA) said that two discussion sessions will be held on November 30 and December 7.
In her interview , Wadha said: “The first session will discuss ‘The reality of legislations and soft programmes for the protection of women’.
“It will highlight the ministry’s role in fostering the empowerment of women and their participation in sustainable development, as well as the role of civil society institutions and the private sector in supporting national efforts in this direction.
“The second session will see the participation of legal specialists and workers in the field of family and women’s affairs.”
It will discuss proposals to develop legislations of relevance within the approaches of Oman Vision 2040 and Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.
The campaign will be themed in orange colour designs, symbolic of bright future, to counter violence against women and stem gender discrimination.
In addition, an awareness week will be organised in cooperation with civil society institutions and other parties on women’s empowerment and building strong family bonds and laws pertaining to women’s rights and protection.
The campaign will begin on November 25, the day designated by the UN to observe the event.
The Sultanate has accorded full attention to human rights, since the start of its blessed renaissance. Oman signed a number of agreements to this effect, including the 1996 Child Rights Convention, the 2005 Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the 2008 agreement on rights of the disabled.
Since then, the Sultanate has taken giant strides in these fields.
Official statistics show that Omani women constitute 49.7 per cent of Omani society till August 2020. Girls aged 0-17 make 42.8 per cent of the Omani population till 2019.
The male-female gender ratio is 101:100 till mid-2019. The 65 Omani Women’s Associations undertake the responsibility of following up programmes related to women and children in the Sultanate.
Besides healthcare, the Omani government provides free education for all males and females in the Sultanate. The proportion of females who joined classes 10-12 stood at 96.5 per cent by school year 2018-2019, while illiteracy dropped from 11.4 per cent by 2014 to 6.5 per cent in 2019.
Meanwhile, the number of Omani girls who joined higher education institutions rose to more than 73 per cent. Omani females constituted nearly 40 per cent of students dispatched for study abroad, while Omani women working for government and private sectors stood at 33.2 per cent of the total number of employees by July 2020.
In the private sector, Omani working women constituted 26 per cent, about 66,400 of the total workforce by 2019.
Data from the National Centre for Statistics and Information shows that Omani women working for government departments constituted 41.9 per cent of the total number of employees.
Omani female entrepreneurs constitute 23 per cent of the total number of entrepreneurs by 2019.
The centre also shows that women constitute 7 per cent of Omani ambassadors abroad by 2019. — ONA
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