In a quest to modernise and reform Saudi Arabia, the home to the world’s two holiest Mosques will now allow women to serve in the military.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) under the leadership of Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman will now allow women to serve in the military establishment in several roles like soldiers, lance corporals, corporals, sergeants and staff sergeants, reports Economic Times.
This plan, first announced in 2019, will allow women to serve the nation’s military if they fulfil the usual weight and height criteria and the minimum qualification of high school education. However, applicants married to foreigners would continue to be barred from joining the service.
In the bid to modernise this oil-rich nation, last year, KSA’s Minister of Justice had also appointed 100 women as public notaries and had added that the Islamic Kingdom would soon begin to appoint women as court judges.
One of the major developments in this Sharia-compliant nation was when women were allowed to drive and leave the country without requiring permission from a male relative, ending a restrictive guardianship system.
Saudi Arabia has realised that the world is slowly moving away from fossil fuel and it can no longer rely on just selling petroleum, which is why Bin Salman is introducing several reforms to transform the Arab world’s largest economy.
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