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Saudi Commission for Tourism & Antiquities
woman of the year by the biographical
center in Cambridge, Britain;
• Dr. Ayda Al-Aqeel, who received the
world distinguished medical researcher
award in the field of hereditary diseases
in Japan;
• Lubna Al-Olayyan, who was listed
by Forbes as being among the 100 most
powerful women in the world in 2005-
2006;
• Dr. Hayat Sindi, a Saudi researcher at
Harvard University, who was ranked
by the American Organization of Pop
Tech as among the top 15 scientists in
the world.
On the issue of human rights, King
Abdullah established the Human Rights
Commission in the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia in 2005. Its governance is under
the direct supervision of King Abdullah.
It is an independent commission founded
to protect and strengthen human rights
according to standards that are applied
internationally and are cohesive to the
teachings of Islam. The commission’s efforts
are focused also on promoting the
culture and knowledge on human rights
in the country.
King Abdullah also approved the project
to establish a National Society for Human
Rights. This private society includes
41 members, 10 of whom are women. It is
an independent body that is not controlled
or supervised by any government institution,
and its mandate is the well-being of
all citizens, residents and visitors.
King Abdullah and peace
King Abdullah continues to use his influence
to curtail conflicts that threaten the
region; his efforts have re-established
Saudi Arabia as a force that promotes
peace, tolerance, stability and prosperity.
In March 2002, at the Arab Summit
in Beirut, then Crown Prince Abdullah
introduced a peace initiative that offers
comprehensive solutions to the Arab-
Israeli conflict. The King Abdullah Peace
Initiative offers official recognition and
the establishment of normal relations between
Israel and the 22 nations of the Arab
League while calling for full Israeli withdrawal
from the Arab territories occupied
since 1967, and implementation of United
Nations Security Council Resolutions 242
and 338.
His efforts to promote peace in the region
also include: Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq,
Somalia, Darfur and Yemen.
King Abdullah and dialogue
In his continuous efforts to promote
tolerance, King Abdullah introduced a
unique culture of dialogue that called for
open and transparent exchange of ideas,
thoughts and beliefs by establishing the
King Abdulaziz Center for National Dialogue.
The centre promotes open and honest
discussions about various topics and
subjects ranging from religion, terrorism,
women’s role in society to educational
reform. Its goal is to spread a culture of
dialogue and give equal opportunity to
men and women in Saudi society.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, under
the direction of the Custodian of the Two
Holy Mosques, held the third extraordinary
summit of the Organization of the Islamic
Conference in 2005 (OIC) in Makkah
(Mecca). The King denounced extremism
and called for unity and tolerance in the
Muslim world to face the challenges that
lie ahead.
Following the Makkah conference, King
Abdullah met with Pope Benedict XVI, the
first meeting between a Saudi King and
the leader of the Catholic Church.
King Abdullah also convened the
World Conference on Dialogue in Madrid
from July 16-18, 2008. The Custodian of
the Two Holy Mosques emphasized that
for this meeting to succeed, the participants
needed to focus on the commonalities
that unite us as people, “namely, the
deep faith in God, noble principle and
lofty moral values which constitute the essence
of religion.”
King Abdullah’s vision encompasses
the global reality of the era in which we
live, through which all cultural, economic,
religious, and political borders are overlapping
and perhaps even, as some would argue,
fading away. We live in a world where
ideas and concepts can’t be contained by
boundaries and borders. His efforts to send
students in the hundreds of thousands
abroad is a testament that the Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia is not afraid of change, but
rather that King Abdullah is preparing the
next generation to embrace it.
How can a man who continues to
work tirelessly to improve the lives of his
people, enhance government practices,
advance the nation nationally and internationally
be a dictator? What many people,
particularly in the West, do not understand
is that despite his strong efforts to
influence the process, King Abdullah is
faced with an environment that presents
many challenges, obstacles and resistance
to change. To introduce structural change
in a society that has intrinsic traditions
and to actually succeed in doing it is truly
an achievement of a remarkable leader
and a courageous reformer.
This view of the city of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s capital, shows the Kingdom Centre, also
known as Al Mamlika Tower, which is the tallest skyscraper in the country.
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Osamah bin Ahmad Al Sanosi Ahmad is
Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Canada.
FALL 2011 | OCT-NOV-DEC