Saudi Gazette report JEDDAH — A Shoura Council member said she was unable to get the Saudi nationality for her daughters because their father is Lebanese, business daily Al-Eqtisadiah reported Monday. Addressing a gathering in her honor held recently in Jeddah by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on the occasion of Women's History Month, Thuraya Obaid said the Cabinet decision to treat the children of a Saudi woman married to a foreigner as full-fledged Saudis has not been honored by a large number of government departments. "Saudi women married to foreigners should be allowed to obtain nationality for their children on an equal footing with the Saudi men married to foreign women," she said. She said children of Saudi women married to foreigners should be allowed to stay in the country with their mothers and receive the same treatment given to Saudi children in terms of education and health. Obaid said she and other women members in the Shoura Council were currently trying to ensure Saudi women have access to all their rights. "We are working on a number of files to amend the rules and regulations with a view to enabling Saudi women to obtain all their rights," she said. She said they made proposals to amend the pension system because women are not paid their full pensions if their husbands are already receiving them on their wives' behalf. "This is unjust to women and their children," she said. Obaid said women Shoura Council members also asked to set the age of consent for women at 18, after which they should not be under the guardianship of men. "When they reach this age, women should be considered mature and should no longer need to be under male guardianship," she said. She said the government and senior officials are supportive of women's rights but obtaining them will take time. She said: “We are making efforts to enable Saudi women to have all their rights. “Women represent half of society so they should enjoy the same rights as men.” Obaid said they called for improving health services in villages, hamlets and remote areas. "We have also called for giving women the same treatment as men when they apply for loans from the Real Estate Development Fund," she said. Princess Adila Bint Abdullah, who spoke at the function, urged government ministries and non-governmental organizations to enable women to participate in the process of decision making. "Women, who represent half of the society, are important pillars for development and progress," she added. She said Islam has given women all their rights but many Muslim societies are not heeding this. The princess said Islamic tenets are based on justice and equality in rights and duties but Muslim countries are not applying the correct principles of Islam. "Reforming society cannot be achieved without women's participation," she said
