RIYADH – Almost 17,000 Saudi women from across Saudi Arabia have been trained in communication skills through the King Abdul Aziz Center for National Dialogue Center.
Wafaa Al-Tuwajri, Assistant Secretary General at the Center, said that throughout the four years since the Center was established, a total of 16,965 Saudi women have been trained.
“One of the main goals of King Abdul Aziz Center for National Dialogue is to spread the culture of dialogue among all segments of the society,” Tuwajri told the Saudi Gazette on Sunday.
She added that 256 trainers have also been accredited by the center after undergoing training programs
The Center will hold the Seventh National Dialogue Forum in Qassim on April 22 and 23. It is expected to focus on a number of women’s issues in the Kingdom, mainly employment and related issues and dialogue between society and employment-providing businesses.
The men’s section of the center has also been training male participants, but no numbers were available. “Having good communication skills will not only help women communicate more effectively at work, but also at home with their husbands and children,” said Tuwajri.
"The National Dialogue program proved far more successful than all expectations,” said Faisal Bin Muammar, Secretary General at the Center.
“Now it is not difficult to feel the presence of dialogue in every home. However, what truly matters is to familiarize the public with the program, in the hope that dialogue becomes a way of life," added Bin Muammar.
“People should be convinced to respect the views of others,” he said. “They should be taught that the best way to settle their differences is to get together and exchange views.”
The Center has been active in spreading effective communication techniques among higher educational institutes and business establishments through free workshops.
It also started spreading the word on effective communication skills among young Saudis by providing training workshops for government and private schools. The effects of such training programs have already been felt, said Fatima Qahtani, head of the female training program at the Center.
“I see great improvement in how people express themselves, their ideas and how they react to others’ opinions.”
“I used to hear a lot of discontent, and complaining among Saudis when they used to talk about services. Now we hear people state their opinions and discuss how they can improve things, instead of only sitting and complaining,” said Qahtani.
Qahtani says that she had experienced a new openness among Saudis. “We used to have taboo topics that people would not even touch. That has changed now.”
One of the most significant changes Qahtani has noticed is the development Saudi women have achieved in their communication skills. “I have noticed that the group of women and girls I walked into during a workshop today are different and advanced in their communication styles compared to workshops four years ago,” she said.
“I used to believe that our society had a communication problem, but after training Saudis I realized that what we actually have is a lack of communication skills itself. We do believe in effective communication, and our core beliefs encourage it, but we just don’t know how to communicate effectively.”
The Center has also started a training program with the Central Fund, which supports young business pioneers to start their own business. So far, 41 female beneficiaries of the Central Fund have already been trained in communication skills in Riyadh. “We have already scheduled workshops to be held all over the Kingdom for female beneficiaries of the fund,” said Qahtani.
The training program will also be held in Makkah, Madina, Jizan, Tabuk, Abha, Najran, Qassim, Hail, Jouf, Al-AHasaa, Khobar and in the Northern Borders region. The center will soon collaborate with the fund to include male beneficiaries to be trained in communication skills.
By Suzan Zawawi, Saudi Gazette
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