• The UN and DCO organized a panel session featuring accomplished female leaders in digital, economic, and diplomatic sectors
• Hosted in the UN Building in the Diplomatic Quarter, the event welcomed women and men from various specialties and sectors to celebrate the inspiring stories of women

Lama Alhamawi

RIYADH: The Digital Cooperation Organization, in collaboration with the UN, hosted an event in Riyadh celebrating inspirational women’s stories for International Women’s Day on March 8.

Alaa Abdulaal, chief of digital economy foresight at the DCO, told Arab News: “It was very inspiring to hear other women’s challenges, opportunities, their journeys — it’s really inspired me as a woman leader coming from also a technical background knowing that there were a lot of challenges. It’s a domain that wasn’t known for women.”

As part of the event titled “In Her Shoes: Inspirational Stories of Women Shaping the Future,” the UN and DCO organized a panel session featuring accomplished female leaders in digital, economic, and diplomatic sectors.

The panel included Sweden’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Petra Menander; secretary-general of the DCO, Deemah Al-Yahya; resident representative of the UNDP, Nahid Hussein; and CEO of Circular Economy Co. and vice chair of UN Global Compact, Dr. Hajjar El-Haddaoui.

“We have to be optimistic and we have to believe that one day we will not have an International Woman’s Day because women are equal and we don’t need to talk about it anymore we need to only celebrate the stories,” Abdulaal said.

Hosted in the UN Building in the Diplomatic Quarter, the event welcomed women and men from various specialties and sectors to celebrate the inspiring stories of women.

“To hear from two of the panel members (that) were women in the digital sector, it was really inspiring, it gives you a push to move forward it shows you that someone has done it,” Abdulaal said.

“They broke the barrier they figured it out for themselves and this is really inspiring,” she added.

In an interview with Arab News, Abdulaal said: “DCO works on making sure that every nation has a fair opportunity, every person, every business, every nation as I said has a fair opportunity to grow in the digital economy.

“We particularly focus on women- how can we enable them, how can we empower them, we have a lot of initiatives that we are working toward,” she said.

Abdulaal highlighted that the DOC is set to launch a framework for women in ICT, as one outcome of the digital space accelerator. She explained that the DCO is collaborating with the government, private sector, and international organizations to ensure that women have a fair opportunity to enable their growth in the digital economy.

When asked what men and women can do together to empower more women in the ICT sector, she said: “There’s a lot to be done when we look first of all from a skills perspective, we need to give women more opportunities, to be have the right skills from a digital perspective and a digital literacy perspective and other fields to empower them and help them.”

She explained that there are a lot of financial institutions that can contribute to helping women get their businesses started. “More women leading companies, this needs a collaboration between women and men, women cannot do it alone,” she explained.

Abdulaal highlighted the role men and women both play in enabling their female colleagues to take the positions and opportunities they need. “There are also women that need to empower another woman to take those positions and to give them opportunities,” she explained.

During her remarks, Al-Yahya highlighted the power of assisting women in transitioning online and providing them with the necessary resources for success.

She shared the story of a dentist in Rwanda who served her small community at a government clinic in her village but aspired to expand her reach.

Al-Yahya explained that the dentist wanted to secure more work beyond her village but faced logistical challenges.

Moving her to an online platform and implementing an Uber-like transport solution enabled her to expand and reach other villages. This initiative helped the dentist grow her customer base and, in turn, hire other female dentists.

The Women’s Day event concluded with a Q&A section where women shared their experiences and discussed the obstacles they have overcome in their careers and personal lives.