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The material posted here was provided to the Division for the 

Advancement of Women by the Government in response to a note 

verbale. It has being made available in electronic format from

the form received. 

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Introduction

Priorities of the National Plan for Action
for the Advancement of Women

Key Issues in The Arab Plan for The Advancement of Women

I.   Ensuring The Arab Woman's Right
     To Participate in Governing Bodies
     and Mechanisms and in The Decision-Making Process.

II.  Alleviating The Arab Woman's Burden of Poverty.

III.  Ensuring The Arab Woman's
       Equal Opportunity for Education at All Levels.

IV.   Ensuring The Arab Woman's Equal Access to Health Services.

V.   Empowering The Arab Woman
      to Enter The Labor Market and to Be Independent.

VI.  Overcoming The Impact of War
       and Armed Conflicts on The Arab Woman.

VII.  Allowing The Arab Woman to Participate in Natural Resources
        Management and Environmental Protection.

VIII.   Eliminating Violence.

IX.   Using The Media in An Effective Way
        to Change The Roles of Sexes in Society
        and Achieve Equality between Men and Women.

Accomplishments of The Sultanate

Women's development is a part of a larger plan and process and cannot be separated, by devising special programs and plans, from the general development of the whole society, since real development requires the optimal use of the available human resources of which women represent 50 percent.

The economic and social changes which took place in the Sultanate of Oman during the past years had a great impact on the achievements of the Omani woman and the rights she gained under the policies of this enlightened era of progress. By any measure, the Sultanate of Oman was and still is a pioneer in the area of improving the well-being of its women and children. It is now facing new health challenges which can be overcome by continuous government efforts and the full participation of the private sector and the local community.

Attention to women's affairs has doubled at the government and private sector levels, through fostering women's role and providing the appropriate opportunity for their participation in various fields. Therefore, the Omani woman has become the center of significant attention which has provided her with the resources for advancement in all areas. Women have responded to such attention by contributing to the comprehensive development of the Sultanate, and by affirming their responsibility, side by side with men, in the various activities.

Key Issues of The Arab Plan for The Advancement of Women:

The Arab plan was designed to be in harmony with the joint Arab development process, detailed in its economic, social, cultural and educational covenants, to ensure the optimal use of human resources and to achieve the kind of development that satisfies the fundamental needs of men and women in Arab society.

Priorities of The National Plan:

In defining the priorities of the national plan, the focus was on its responsiveness to the challenges faced by women's programs, and on how to develop such programs in important areas. An analysis of the population of the Sultanate shows that Omani women constitute 49% or 728,116 (1993 census).

1. Forming a national committee for women's affairs to achieve the
following tasks:

1. Devising a general policy for women's development programs and plans; and studying the programs submitted to the committee to decide how to support them and maintain coordination.

2. Coordinating government and non-government efforts to utilize the technical and human resources available in the various institutions.

3. Ensuring continuous interest in allowing women to participate in development activities at all levels.

4. Creating a sense of interest and responsiveness to women's issues among officials who are responsible for the development process.

1. Defining the laws which relate to women's status.

2. Reviewing such laws and determining which need to be amended.

3. Contacting the legislative and legal authorities.

4. Conducting a study on the status of the Omani woman, and taking steps toward designing the proper plans and programs to achieve the desired results in terms of women's work and participation in the development of their society, and defining such participation in the government and private sectors.

5. Building a data and statistical base on women to create a reference base for planning and devising policies and programs.

At The Regional and International Levels:

- Calling upon the regional and international organizations to provide the necessary assistance to the national organizations and agencies concerned with women's affairs, and improving their efficiency to be able to help women in exercising their political rights and in participating in the decision-making process.

- Asking the United Nations to increase the representation of Arab women in its staff in general and in key and decision-making positions in particular, through selective employment and promotion and other special arrangements.

Proposed Practical Measures and Directions:

1. Conducting a study of the labor market to collect information about appropriate job and production opportunities and the areas in which family members welfare, especially women, can work.

2. Performing a study to devise a system for the delivery of the social security pensions.

3. Overcoming the spread of poverty among women by increasing their income, through assistance to carry out productive craft projects and develop income-generating businesses. This is considered an effective means to help poor families in general and women in particular to earn a living, and to gradually limit the number of families totally relying on social security.

4. Raising the standard of living of poor families and women to enable them to attain their basic needs under the prevailing living conditions, while securing a social security umbrella and the continuation of assistance.

5. Designing programs, in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries and other government entities and international organizations, to increase the income of women living in rural areas, through participation in plant and animal production and apiculture, to create additional resources for the family.

6. Allowing rural women to participate in activities pertaining to guidance, beginning with data collection and analysis to define programs to identify the actual needs of the rural communities and women.

7. Establishing guidance programs to educate women about the problems of the local environment and the proper management of natural resources.

8. Strengthening the woman's role as an agricultural producer and as beneficiary of policies and plans relating to this new role, through the establishment of a specialized mechanism (Rural Women's Development Sections).

9. Reinforcing the agricultural development centers by hiring and training female agricultural engineers to execute programs related to rural women.

10. Finding non-traditional solutions and job opportunities for limited-income women, by adding more training centers in the various regions of the Sultanate and designing a training project for girls on sewing and embroidery to provide a source of income for productive families, satisfy the market need for this occupation and control dependency on imported employment.

11. Urging non-government and government organizations to finance productive projects and provide job opportunities.

At the Regional and International Levels:

- Calling upon the various Arab funds to incorporate programs and projects to combat poverty among women and support projects for women and productive families to promote their independence.

- Assisting non-government organizations and national research centers to conduct surveys to measure the extent of poverty in the Arab World and define concepts and terminology, to facilitate comparative studies.

Proposed Practical Measures and Directions:

1. Expanding and diversifying intermediate education institutes, after high school, to provide graduates of both sexes with the kind of expertise needed to meet the national demand for manpower.

2. Expanding literacy programs to cover all regions in the Sultanate, and providing continuing education for graduates of literacy classes.

3. Expanding university graduate studies, according to the needs of the labor market.

At The Regional and International Levels:

- Urging the Arab Organization for Education, Culture and Science of the Arab League and UNESCO to provide the financial and technical support to modernize the integrated Arab project to eliminate illiteracy, control the drop-out phenomenon among girls and enforce mandatory education.

- Designing and financing an Arab project to provide continuing education courses and programs for women, through correspondence, the media and all remote education techniques.

- Helping to organize workshops and conferences to discuss, evaluate and exchange expertise in successful Arab projects and policies, as well as organizing symposia and conferences to devise detailed action plans and programs to educate the guardians about the importance of female education as an investment in human resources, and providing the funds needed to execute such programs.

Health policies and plans will be formulated in view of statistics and data about women's health status.

Practical Measures and Directions:

1. Making health education more efficient to cover health care during pregnancy in 75% of the health care institutions.

2. Increasing the percentage of health-conscious people who follow the proper health practices, by encouraging the efforts of the groups supporting the "Child-Friendly Hospital Program" and of any other health programs.

3. Planning a national program to fight cancer at an early stage, including psychological care for cancer patients and early detection, through family education and awareness programs.

4. Executing the "Healthy State" project which aims to provide its citizens with the proper environment such as potable water, sanitation and basic health care, through the National Committee in which the Ministry of Health and other pertinent government and private entities are represented, and in cooperation with the World Health Organization.

5. Developing and continuing the National Program for Health Education by taking the following measures:

1. The inclusion of Health education programs in the school health care system.

2. Disseminating a health manual entitled "Facts of Life" through lectures and competitions, involving general health concepts, among secondary school students.

At The Regional and International Levels:

- Supporting official national efforts designed to improve women's and children's health care conditions, and providing financial assistance to plan and carry out the United Nations-supported programs on reproduction and prevention, which are executed by governments.

- Supporting the official and unofficial national efforts to provide information and indicators, conduct studies, and participate in seminars to plan appropriate health project programs responding to the needs of Arab society, particularly women and children. Such programs should include women's rehabilitation and training.

Practical Measures and Directions:

1. Conducting a survey of labor market needs to identify the opportunities available for women in economic activities, and utilizing available studies in directing women to these opportunities.

2. Building a statistical and data base on women to establish a reference for planning, policy design and program execution.

3. Developing women's productive skills and achieving more progress in enabling women to participate in local development programs.

4. Providing the necessary measures and services to enable women to seek work, and enabling them to carry out both their family and job responsibilities, by expanding day-care centers and kindergartens in the public and private sectors.

5. Designing a special system by the Ministry of Agriculture, in cooperation with Oman's Bank for Agricultural Production Marketing, to provide additional facilities for women working in farming and ensure marketing of their products.

6. Seeking the contribution of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, the international organizations, Oman's Bank for Agriculture and Fisheries, the General Authority for Agricultural Production Marketing, and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to devise a strategy to empower women living in rural areas and working in agricultural development projects, and to create opportunities for women workers to initiate trade activities in the farming sector.

7. Educating women at all levels about the importance of their role.

8. Continuing efforts to ensure equal opportunity between men and women to access educational and training facilities provided free by the government.

9. Introducing regulations that facilitate women's access to rehabilitation and training programs, by overcoming all social barriers to such opportunities.

10. Adopting a developed technical education and vocational training system capable of attracting more women to training and, consequently, to entering the labor market.

11. Making efforts to distribute training opportunities managed or supervised by the Vocational Training Authority among all regions in the Sultanate so as to allow more chances for Omani girls to access training and rehabilitation services in the locations where they live.

12. Taking measures to create a training environment in harmony with all demographic, cultural and social factors, and expanding training programs that fit women's capabilities and needs.

13. Making efforts to develop an integrated system of vocational guidance to help Omani girls to join training programs, as a way of finding an appropriate employment opportunity and of climbing the vocational ladder.

At The Regional and International Levels:

- Providing support for studies to define the supply and demand for qualified manpower classified by sex, making the corresponding changes in educational disciplines in view of the rapid technological changes associated with the new work requirements; and organizing symposia, seminars and training programs to foster women's independence and exchange information about policies and programs for the elimination of all forms of discrimination in the workplace. In this respect, the support of the International and Arab Labor Organizations, UNESCO, ESCWA, UNIDO and other organizations is needed.

- Unifying scientific terminology with contributions from the Arab Labor Organization, ILO, FAO, UNIDO, the Agricultural Development Organization, United Nations Statistical Office, the Economic and Social Committee for West Asia, and incorporating women's labor data in the figures for the national domestic product. In this respect, the ILO and Governments urge that new statistical definitions and indicators be developed so that women's labor in agriculture and unpaid family work can be included to show the real economic value of women's contributions to increasing industrial, agricultural and food production.

- Inviting specialized international organizations such as the ILO and UNIDO to increase their support for training, provide technical assistance for small businesses, guide the establishment of development projects, encourage the private sector and enable trade unions to play an effective role in increasing job opportunities for women.

Practical Measures and Directions:

- Emphasizing women's participation in environmental decision-making, devising policies and plans and issuing the appropriate laws to monitor and control development activities which have a harmful effect on the environment.

- Empowering Omani women and providing them with adequate information, training and rehabilitation to be able to use and manage commodities and products on a safe, sustainable basis.

- Designing programs, seminars and workshops about methods for detecting and disposing of toxic waste.

- Educating women about how to avoid waste in energy, food and water consumption, guiding them to organize their regular daily activities on a sound basis and focusing on establishing positive habits that benefit their families and society, such as preventing ground water depletion by introducing modern irrigation system to their farms.

- Benefiting from the data banks of the United Nations and the Arab organizations, and collecting and using data in environmental education.

- Exploiting household waste through recycling, choosing optimal alternatives to fertilizers to which women are exposed, and recycling solid waste as the best method of dealing with it and of creating job opportunities and controlling a source of pollution of natural resources.

- Initiating and operating income-producing small businesses which feed big businesses, and encouraging rural women to run such businesses, provided that such projects are friendly to the environment and that the available alternatives to reduce pollution are defined.

- Planning information programs of different contents and approaches to raise rural women's awareness about the environment, including information, skills, values and trends related to environmental protection.

- Providing financial and moral support to women's associations operating in the area of information and environmental projects to reinforce their capability to perform their tasks.

Practical Measures and Directions:

1. Establishing a regional data bank, and defining the indicators of women's contribution to environmental management and the effect of environmental pollution on the health of women and their families.

2. Supporting seminars, training programs and workshops on the role of women in preserving the environment and on the skills required to collect basic data on the relationship between the environment and women's health, and conducting studies about women's participation in defining natural resource development policies.

3. Rejecting nuclear and toxic waste dumping in Arab countries under the pretext of conducting environmental experiments.

4. Financing and supporting programs to control industrial and environmental pollution.

5. Contributing to efforts to prevent environmental pollution as well as wars and their environmental causes.

Practical Measures and Directions:

- Devising a clear, unified strategy for the media, pertaining to women and their issues and role in the social, economic and political development process.

- Developing the role of women working in the media, and encouraging their participation in planning and decision-making with regard to the various information programs.

- Training women working in the media on production, direction and writing, to qualify them to execute objective information programs, and persue information issues related to women.

- Encouraging men and women to participate in constructive dialogue and to work to reach a unified positive view on women's social, economic and political issues.

At the Regional and International Levels:

- Encouraging good production designed to promote a positive image of women and joint Arab projects.

- Using the Satellite (Arabsat) to transmit broadcasting programs that boost women's role and their participation in the development process.

- Allowing the Arab media to benefit from foreign information programs which have an objective humanistic, cultural, social and educational content.

- Creating a communications network between regional and international organizations and institutions to exchange information which helps the international community to understand the Arab woman's issues and to change her negative image.

- Urging international organizations to provide financial assistance to governments and non-governmental organizations to train men and women working in the media to produce information materials designed to enhance women's role in development and in international peace and security.

1. To achieve integration and coordination between the government and non-government organizations with regard to services offered for women, a general framework was designed to form a national committee for women's affairs, define its goals and authority, and recommend its members.

2. Expanding the services of women's rehabilitation centers, which act as social institutions concerned with social, cultural and vocational rehabilitation of women under the supervision of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor, to train, educate and develop women's capabilities in the various fields. The number of such centers increased by two during that period to reach a total of ten.

3. Expanding the women's voluntary social work base quantitatively and geographically by adding three associations to bring the total to 19.

4. Completing the second phase of the Girl Training Project on sewing and embroidery for general high school graduates by opening 8 centers in 13 states during 1996 and admitting 530 trainees to occupations responding to labor market demand, and providing support and adequate conditions for them to enter the labor market and replace imported manpower.

5. Allocating and approving the costs of the following studies:

1. Developing income-producing sources for the welfare families.
   
   
2. Surveying the labor market to identify appropriate job opportunities and production and areas members of welfare families, especially women, can be employed in.

3. Designing a system for delivering social security pensions.

1. How to plan small production projects.

2. How to market small production products.

3. Developing communications skills and planning and evaluation techniques.

8. Setting the general framework to study Omani women's status in the labor market, and providing the basic statistical data and tables on women, as extrapolated from the census.

9. Establishing a section to develop rural women, within the structure of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, with the following responsibilities:

1. Conducting studies on the participation of rural women in farming labor.

2. Preparing development programs required to develop rural women and boosting their effectiveness in farm labor.

3. Training rural women to play their role in developing the agricultural sector and in conserving natural resources and the local environment to maintain sustainable development.

4. Coordinating with governmental entities and regional and international organizations concerned with rural women's affairs to carry out joint development programs and to exchange information and expertise.

11. Health care centers for women and children were provided in all regions of the Sultanate.

12. Nine nursing institutes were established throughout the Sultanate to develop the Omani nursing cadres.

13. A health education institute was established to train women's health educators, and the graduates were distributed throughout the regions to execute programs designed to educate the public about all health areas.

14. A 3-year educational program on nutrition has started to train the nutritionists who will work in hospitals and health-care centers.

15. The number of mothers who practice breast feeding rose to 50%, as a result of the "Child Friendly Hospitals Program". It is worth noting that UNICEF recognized all hospitals in the Sultanate as children's hospitals.

16. Making efforts to reduce maternal mortality by half, and to expand services delivered in health institutions as well as increasing the health-care coverage rate to reach 96% by the end of 1995.

17. Issuing a book entitled "Facts of Life" to be used as reference by the educational institutions and program planners to provide secondary school students with modern knowledge about the proper healthy life-style.

18. Continuing efforts to increase health services related to methods of spacing between births.

19. Completing data collection for the Gulf Family Health Study Project, whose analysis has already begun, to provide a detailed data base on the health status of family members and identify the biological, enviro-demographic, economic and behavioral factors affecting family health.

Obstacles:

1. Women's reluctance to work in certain fields which can help to raise their standard of living.

2. Shortage of specialized studies about women (status, problems and role in development).

3. Dependence of a large percentage of housewives on foreign governesses in all matters related to house maintenance, family affairs and upbringing of children.

4. Shortage of programs and activities to help the disabled woman to join in women's activities.

5. Inability, especially in women's associations, to benefit from the services offered by international organizations either because they do not know the roles of these organizations or because some obstacles prevent them from utilizing such benefits.

6. The rapid development and modernization process has hit the activity of the rural woman, because many of the locally-produced rural products were replaced in the markets by imported products which-in turn-affected the economic role of women toward their families.

7. The rural woman's lack of the necessary information about modern technology in order to produce modern market-quality products, because all farmers are men, who find it hard to communicate with rural women due to inherited customs and traditions and religions beliefs.

8. The banks require collateral (such as land) for obtaining a loan, and many Omani women living in rural areas own lands through inheritance; but such lands are registered in the name of their husbands, and since women have no fixed income as employees do, their chance of obtaining loans is minimal.

9. The Agricultural Production Marketing Authority's goal, from its inception in 1981, has been to create established markets for farm products by providing a number of collecting centers in major cities to distribute farm products to local markets. Rural women live too far from such centers to utilize their benefits. Furthermore, women are occupied with their everyday work, and transportation to those centers is difficult. Therefore, the programs and projects aiming at women's participation should rely on collective efforts and on mid-level leadership to enhance their capabilities and provide assistance.

10. The focus in women's vocational development is only on areas such as sewing and handicrafts. Nevertheless, the Omani woman is also a farmer, as farm work is divided between men and women in Omani society. Therefore, greater attention should be given to women in agriculture and solutions for their occupational problems should be found.

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