The move is a first in Saudi Arabia’s history. For a long time, conservative Islamic rules have made it hard for women to do certain things.
This year is the first time in history that Saudi Arabia will have a representative at the Miss Universe pageant. This comes as the conservative country moves toward more changes for women’s rights.
She is a 27-year-old Saudi model and social media star named Rumy al-Qahtani. She will be competing in the global beauty contest in Mexico in September.
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In a post on her Instagram account on Monday, Qahtani told everyone about her first event as Miss Universe.
“It’s an honor to be in the Miss Universe 2024 competition.” The country of Saudi Arabia is taking part in the Miss Universe pageant for the first time, she wrote in her post.
The beauty queen Qahtani has been in many pageants and shares with her one million followers her story and her experiences. Since being named Miss Saudi Arabia in 2021, she has won a number of beauty pageants, such as Miss Middle East and Miss Arab World Peace. Laha, a magazine for women, says that Qahtani was born in Riyadh and has a degree in dentistry. She also speaks English, French, and Arabic very well.
As the Islamic country tries to become more open to the West, Saudi Arabia’s first appearance at Miss Universe is another important step forward.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has led a number of efforts to promote gender equality in the kingdom since becoming crown prince in June 2017. These efforts are part of Vision 2030, which aims to modernize Saudi society and economy by bringing in new technologies and changing the way people live.
In June 2018, Saudi Arabia ended a long-standing law that didn’t let women drive. This was a big step forward for women’s rights.
In April of that year, 2018, women were finally allowed to go to a show. It was the first event in the kingdom where people of all genders were welcome.
Later in 2019, Saudi King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud signed a law that says women don’t need permission from a guy to travel or get a passport.
Rights groups still say that women’s rights are being violated and discriminated against in the kingdom, even though things seem to have changed.
At the most recent meeting of the UN Commission on the Status of Women, Amnesty International asked UN member states to think again about their choice to make Saudi Arabia chair of the UN women’s rights platform.
A press release from Amnesty International last week said, “Saudi Arabia’s terrible track record when it comes to protecting and promoting the rights of women shines a light on the huge gap between what women and girls in Saudi Arabia actually experience and what the Commission wants to see happen.”
In 2023, the World Economic Forum released the Global Gender Gap Index. It showed that Saudi Arabia was ranked 131st out of 146 countries.
