HRH Princess Lamia on Trump's Travel Ban, The Refugee Crisis & Women Empowerment

HRH Princess Lamia on Trump's Travel Ban, The Refugee Crisis & Women Empowerment
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HRH Princess Lamia Al Saud

HRH Princess Lamia Al Saud

Alwaleed Philanthropies

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Q. As the secretary general and member at Alwaleed Philanthropies, what is your role and what would you consider your greatest responsibility?

HRH Princess Lamia: That I provide help for people around the world without looking at their religion, race or culture; we’re all human at the end of the day. And for us, as a Saudi Arabian entity, managed by 10 Saudi women who I’m very proud of, it’s a huge, huge responsibility for us to keep it that way. It is very important for us to do whatever we can to make this world a better place to live.

Q. When we met in New York you said tackling gender inequality is one of the most important challenges the world faces in the 21st century. You followed that up by saying creating peace and prosperity begins with changing the female psychology. In what ways are you changing the female psychology to empower women?

HRH Princess Lamia: The most important thing when we talk about the female psychology, yes we are all one gender but believe me it differs completely from a woman who is born and raised here (Saudi Arabia), or a woman born and raised in Africa or the United States. It’s about what you want as a person, if you have a dream, if you have a passion.

First, you have to understand your mission, understand why you are here, what you want to do, and believe in yourself.

First thing we try to do, always, is just to give that hope. You have somebody beside you and we are going to help. If you have that dream, if you’re ambitious enough, if you understand what you want, you are going to reach there.

Q. Can you give us insight, what is it like for girls growing up in Saudi Arabia?

HRH Princess Lamia: if you are going to come in Saudi Arabia and apply the same metrics, and monitor the level of development of women empowerment in the U.S. and foreign areas and you apply it here in the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council), definitely you will find a huge difference.

Here we depend on traditions. We depend on ethics which we are very proud of; the tribal ethics. And of course, having the two holy mosques in Saudi Arabia, this is something god gave to us, and we’re very proud of this gift. All of these elements, it affects the characteristics, of the personality of Saudi Arabians in general and, of course, the women as well.

So you have to understand all of these elements to understand how you are going to evaluate Saudi women and their problems.

Before anyone is going to talk on our behalf, just criticize or even compliment, you have to understand who we are and how we reach there. So that’s what makes our work harder. You’re not only working with general society beliefs. No, no it’s more deeper and more stronger; we are going to the roots. You need to know how to crack it. Which you have to be very smart in Saudi Arabia. When you are in the middle of a place like Riyadh, it’s completely different than when you want to change perspective in Jizan and Jeddah. It’s a huge country.

Q: How will women’s education lead to broader change around the globe?

HRH Princess Lamia: Understanding. You have to have knowledge. Every human being has a dream; you want to become something when you grow up.

It’s not a must to a have a bachelor’s degree or even a master’s or PhD, to succeed and to reflect this on the community. Even if you have a simple job like a technician, you can make a big change in society. It’s the learning that I’m pushing for.

Q: What misconceptions do you think foreigners have about your country and region?

HRH Princess Lamia: As I told you when we met, (Westerners) are talking about something you’ve never talked to us about. (Westerners) do not really do an effort to make sure your information you’re gathering is correct. All it takes is a google search, the development of this country is there.

We have an open digital platform, you can enter by Twitter, by Facebook. You will notice the development by King Abdullah, and King Salman is also following his example. There was huge change from a women empowering women perspective. The workforce for women is completely different; we realize now the importance of having women on ground and how it effects the society.

Princess Lamia goes one-on-one with journalist Nicole Sawyer.

Princess Lamia goes one-on-one with journalist Nicole Sawyer.

Nicole Sawyer

Q: The Wa’iyah Initiative for Women’s Legal Rights, is dedicated to spreading awareness of women’s rights in the Kingdom. What are some of the practices in your country that you would like to see reformed?

HRH Princess Lamia: Even me as a secretary general, when we first started this initiative, I was very excited. I was scared; was really, really shocked because I didn’t know many of my rights as a woman and a Saudi citizen.

Through Wa'iyah, we’re trying to create awareness and make the women understand their rights. We have a lot of rights that they do not understand. For example, you’ve heard in the media about the guardianship, well it’s true, we do have a problem with that.

There are a lot of girls that suffer, which I would never deny. But you cannot fix it or even fight it. You have to have the legal and religious way to convince the society here. The old generation will never leave their guardian. They say your father, your brother is your protector; he is not abusing you.

There is violence in many places in the world. We are not aliens, but here it is different because we have this guardian law.

In the old generation, there wasn’t that much of conflict between how the woman will develop her career and the tradition. We didn’t have that much of an opportunity for women, or even the awareness about the importance of the role in the community. We are a very small country Nicole, we are only 85 years old. Let’s say 50 years ago, Riyadh really was like a village and it was very small and there was nothing.

Q. So you are saying the number one practice you’d like to see reformed is the guardianship law?

HRH Princess Lamia: Yeah, of course, it all revolves around the guardian.

I would never, ever want to be apart from my family, or not have the blessing of my father or brother. Even you, I don’t think any person in the world would not love to have the blessing of her family. But it [The guardian law] needs a guideline. It needs a rule, where to stop, where it’s okay and where it’s not ok.

Q. How is the kingdom of Saudi Arabia working towards making the country a conducive environment for women in the work place?

HRH Princess Lamia: I think the government is doing a lot just to be aligned with all the changes in the world, and even to fulfill the dreams of those girls. There is a movement happening from the government perspective. The 2030 vision, one of the acts that’s covered is empowering women.

Three of the major economic and finance positions, the appointees were ladies. And almost 5 of the major universities now are led by ladies. We have a lot of great news and development for women, but if we are talking from a government perspective, we still have a long journey to go. But for now, in these 85 years this is an achievement.

Q: What are some examples of how the Saudi Arabian government has changed the laws to make it an easier place for women to work?

HRH Princess Lamia: There was no law that forbid women from having jobs. It was a community or a social mood. Back then, we didn’t get used to it. But since King Fahd and King Abdullah started, slowly but surely, the community started to accept.

Q. How would you say the kingdoms rules prohibiting women from driving effects your movement of maintaining gender equality and helping women enter the workforce?

HRH Princess Lamia: I’ll ask you, what’s more important for you as a woman? To be a judge, a lawyer, take a higher ranking position in your profession, or to drive a car?

I wouldn’t say that as a human being you shouldn’t have the right to have the freedom to move from one place to another. Of course it’s important. But I think for us, for now, we have much more important things to fight for than driving. I would be more than happy to be in control of my future than to have control over a method.

We have Uber and taxis. It’s not something we really enjoy, but we have other priorities.

This will come eventually. My priority is preparing ladies to be in control of their future, to understand the importance for them to be leaders.

Q. What is the kingdom of Saudi Arabia doing for women refugees and their rights? Rules for women are far stricter in Saudi Arabia as compared to other countries, so how do you maintain a level of equality between men and women that are not really born and raised in the country?

HRH Princess Lamia: I traveled to Paris last year. Do you remember the big fuss about the burkini? That year I was interviewed by an Algerian journalist who asked me what I thought about France’s ban on the burkini and forbidding women from covering their face; wearing the niqab. That was really shocking for women.

I said, “It’s their right.”

She asked, “What do you mean they are right?”

I told her, “It’s their right, it’s their country. You’re here as a guest, so you have to respect. If you don’t like it, just leave.”

Why am I saying this? Because we don’t call them refugees; they are embedded in the community. They are coming and staying here with their family and even if they are not with their family, the government will fully provide them with everything. They are not living in camps here. They get benefits. They are not isolated; they are not in camps. I have no problem with camps but I’m just talking about my country.

HRH Princess Lamia Al Saud is the Secretary General and member of the Board of Trustees at Alwaleed Philanthropies.

HRH Princess Lamia Al Saud is the Secretary General and member of the Board of Trustees at Alwaleed Philanthropies.

ALWALEED PHILANTHROPIES

Q: What do you think of the current administration’s view on the travel ban and efforts to restrict refugees from entering the US? How can foreign countries best assist the middle east in light of the refugee crisis?

HRH Princess Lamia: I respect whatever policies or regulation any country has, because I expect whenever anyone comes to my country, they will respect mine as well. If you do not allow me to enter your country for a certain reason, whether the reason is convincing to me or not, I have to accept it; I do not have to fight it. And if I have a certain regulations for you to enter my country and you do not agree with it then it is also my right to enforce it as a country.

As for the refugees, I believe there are a lot of governmental agreements that countries are obligated to help. To me, from a security perspective, maybe you are right, maybe this is wrong. You have to decide that because it’s your national security. But at the end of the day those people need places to live in. It’s a very confusing situation. But for any person entering any country you have to respect the country’s regulation and rules.

Q. What do you think about Saudi Arabia being elected to the UN women’s rights commission, to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women?

HRH Princess Lamia: It’s an amazing news to be very honest. I wish you were here Nicole, really. I believe the problem, it’s not about what’s happening in Saudi Arabia or the level of development of women or any of that. It’s about when you look to Saudi Arabia or the GCC in general, do you understand this country, do you understand our day to day life, our background and how we were brought up. When you come here and sit with the ladies and hear their stories, you will see these women are warriors; they pass through a lot and they achieved and proved themselves. I believe the Saudi woman is the most powerful woman on earth because she is really, really strong, she believes in herself and she knows her capability. They’re very stubborn and they know exactly what they want.

Q. This move prompted outrage from human rights groups, criticizing the United Nations for choosing a country that has long been considered a leading oppressor of women. What is your reaction?

HRH Princess Lamia: It’s excellent, really! This is our chance to reflect the truth. We still have a lot to do and we do have obstacles, but with this appointment and criticism, it is the perfect situation that’s been given to us to prove who we are. I don’t see it as negative at all.

Q. What have you learned from your work is our greatest responsibility to each other?

HRH Princess Lamia: First, how not to be judgmental, to have an open mind, try to understand and accept before passing judgment. Have the art of listening. Second, we have to understand something very important about us, as human beings, you always will want something. You want to breath, you want to eat, you want to sleep, you’re always wanting. I would love people to want, but to want good.

Stop keeping up with repeating other people’s words, just want something good for yourself and start with yourself first.

Q: Alwaleed Philanthropies has invested millions of dollars into initiatives combating disease, poverty and injustice around the globe. Recently, Alwaleed Philanthropies announced a US$50 million partnership with the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund to help save millions of children from measles. What was the deciding factor to dedicate your resources towards this specific cause?

HRH Princess Lamia: The partnership is very important. We see the numbers of children that die every day, 300 plus; that means 15 children die per hour, its horrifying. For me as a mother, it’s disturbing. It’s not a disease with no medication or treatment, it’s only a symptom of not having vaccines. This really broke my heart. I went on a trip and it was really heart breaking trip because you can literally see children becoming deaf or have a physical trouble that could be a life changing thing just for a simple vaccine, which costs $2-3.00 and can save lives. So there is a need here and we’re aiming to provide vaccination for almost 50 million kids around the world. And we hope people understand the need to donate and provide more vaccination.

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