Gulf International Bank – Saudi Arabia (GIB KSA) has signed a partnership agreement with Alnahda Society in Riyadh to collaborate on the development of women’s empowerment in the Kingdom.

Specifically, in support of their leadership of the Women 20 (W20), one of the official G20 Engagement Groups, focused on closing the global gender gap and women’s empowerment.

Women 20 will host its own summit on October 2020, welcoming delegates from across all G20 countries and key international organizations. This will follow a number of expert meetings, roundtables and dialogues at which GIB will play a key role as a supporter and sponsor.

The partnership will also allow both parties to work together to promote the efforts and core focus areas of the W20: Digital inclusion, Financial inclusion, Labour inclusion and Inclusive decision-making, with Women’s Entrepreneurship as a cross cutting topic.

Abdulaziz A Al-Helaissi, the Group CEO of GIB, said: “GIB is delighted to announce our partnership with Alnahda and to extend our support for their critical work on women empowerment. As a Group, with the full support of the Board, GIB is deeply committed to diversity and has long advocated for and engaged in developing women’s empowerment.

“We look forward to furthering this commitment through our cooperation with Alnahda and our support for its numerous programmes and efforts including the unique role they have assumed in leading the W20 activities under Saudi Arabia’s leadership of the G20 Presidency this year.”

Commenting on the partnership, Women 20 Sherpa, Salma Al Rashid, said: “We look forward to working alongside GIB as we continue to advocate for gender equality and financial inclusion. Our focus includes improving access to personal financial resources, financial literacy, and greater participation of women in the workforce. Covid-19 has highlighted the risk to gains made for gender equality and we appreciate the support from GIB in ensuring that our voice resonates both in Saudi Arabia and globally.”

Alnahda Society has proposed a plan to the G20 Saudi Secretariat to lead and influence the Women 20 (W20) Saudi engagement group discussions at both the national and international levels and as a result, the organization has been appointed by Royal Decree to lead the W20 activities in 2020.  

W20 is an official G20 engagement group whose primary objective is to ensure that gender considerations are mainstreamed into G20 discussions and translate into the G20 Leaders' Declaration as policies and implementation commitments that foster gender equality and women’s economic empowerment. – TradeArabia News Service