Saudi e-portal for empowerment of women gets global recognition

A Riyadh-based e-portal recently set up for women empowerment in the Middle East won first place in a competition organized by the United Nations and the International Labor Organization (ILO) through the Youth Employment Network.
Glowork.net, which placed first in the UN contest, is the Kingdom’s portal for recruitment of women workers in the Kingdom.
Khalid Alkhudair, Glowork’s founder, told Arab News that this was a great honor for the Kingdom and also honored the efforts of those responsible for setting up the website, which enabled a large number of women to find jobs through the portal.
“The award is considered one of the prestigious awards in the areas of networking and job creation at a global level. This is the first time a Saudi organization was bestowed with such an honor,” Alkhudair said.
Since its launch last year, Glowork has helped create over 2,500 vacancies for women through its portal. It also provides a solution for virtual offices, which helps organizations hire woman from home and actively monitor them as they carry out the most complicated of tasks such as call center and telesales work.
The virtual office solution helps create opportunities for those in rural areas, promotes the hiring of those with special needs and fits perfectly with Saudi culture and tradition, he said, adding the majority of women have expressed their appreciation for such a solution.
Glowork also positioned itself as a women empowerment movement by partnering with all universities throughout the Kingdom to educate women on what is expected when entering the job market, how to prepare a CV and how to face an interview.
"Over 40 organizations participated in the competition which was based on public votes and the judges’ assessment. Glowork scored a remarkable 25/25 from the judges and 200 votes from the community was enough to secure the top spot.”
Glowork was formed by young Saudi talents who believed in women empowerment. It was a self-funded initiative that has now been recognized as one of the best practices worldwide when it comes to promoting gender equality in the workplace.
“There have been calls from several countries in the region seeking our expertise to adapt the Glowork concept,” Alkhudair noted .
He thanked Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah and Labor Minister Adel Fakeih for the initiative and interest taken to empower women in the Saudi society. He said the government’s regulations allowed the private sector to find the right solutions to empower women and to implement such programs within the cultural and traditional framework.
“We are so proud not because of the award, but because we are Saudis who are showing the world that women have their equal place in the community and this is just the start,” he noted.
Glowork is based in Riyadh and is founded by a group of young Saudi philanthropists like Khalid Alkhudair, Jamal Al-Mansour, Khaled Al-Saleh and Muna Abusulayman.
It is a project which has the blessings of the Labor Minister Adel Fakeih, he added.