International Women’s Day today

MUSCAT: The Sultanate, along with other countries, will celebrate the International Women’s Day (IWD) on Sunday which falls on March 8. Since the dawn of the Blessed Renaissance, the Sultanate spared no effort to empower women and integrate them in the comprehensive development plans, a trend that was clearly manifested by the addresses of the late His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said bin Taimour, may Almighty Allah rest his soul in peace, in which he emphasised the vital role of women and the attention he gave to the empowerment of Omani women. The Sultanate has achieved gender equality in education. Female literacy has dropped significantly from 12.6 per cent in 2013 to 6.3 per cent in 2018 with the official data indicating that females made up 54 per cent of total number of students admitted at the higher education institutions in the academic year 2015-2016. The Sultanate established 9 centres for knowledge society dedicated for women in all governorates with a view to empower Omani women and enable them to use technology and benefit from the digital revolution. The Municipal Council Law promulgated by Royal Decree No 116/2011 gave women the right to stand for the municipal council election on equal footing with men. The representation of women in diplomacy has seen a notable development during recent years with women assuming positions as ambassadors and representatives in the UN agencies. — ONA