Colleagues Dr. Malak Al-Saudi, Head of the Iffat Counseling Services Center, and lawyer Samar Al-Jabrah from SIGI’s legal team, participated in a dialogue session organized by Ruwwad Al-Tanmeya Association, focusing on women’s economic solidarity.

The session covered several key topics, including: understanding the concept of economic solidarity and distinguishing it from traditional business partnerships, mechanisms to activate economic solidarity, and identifying the challenges facing such models.

During the session, Mrs. Samar Al-Jabrah emphasized that this meeting falls within the framework of advocacy and lobbying efforts, which aim to highlight laws and legislation related to the work environment. She noted that SIGI had developed two qualitative studies: one on violence in the world and environment of work, and the other on the role of civil society organizations in supporting working women. She explained that the objective of these studies and meetings is to empower youth to access project opportunities through youth-led initiatives, and to work towards institutionalizing their efforts sustainably.

Al-Jabrah also addressed the legal framework surrounding economic solidarity, emphasizing the importance of having specific legislation to govern this type of cooperation and clearly distinguish it from traditional partnerships. She illustrated this point using real-life examples from a legal perspective.

Dr. Malak Al-Saudi discussed mechanisms for activating economic solidarity and the skills required to enable women to build strong cooperative foundations. She also explored the link between economic solidarity and social relationships, highlighting the importance of trust-building among women as a prerequisite for launching solidarity-based projects. Additionally, she pointed to the influence of family and community structures on the effectiveness of these solidarity models.

The session witnessed significant interaction from attendees, evident in the questions, input, and shared success stories and real-life experiences. The discussion also touched on the main challenges and barriers women face in this context.