Makkah: Seven women sit in front of computer screens fielding distress calls from across Makkah ahead of the annual Hajj pilgrimage this week, in a first for Saudi Arabia as it tries to expand participation in the workforce, Reuters reported.
The seven, almost all wearing the black niqab over their faces, form the first women’s section of an emergency call center in the Kingdom. The women verify a caller’s location and request, which could be related to fire, crime, illness or a traffic accident, before passing the information on to first responders. “Saudi women are present in multiple fields, so they can also be present in the security sector,” 31-year-old Baara Al-Shuwaibi, who studied English at a Makkah university, told Reuters, headphones hanging over her ears.
The women all speak English and received training before starting their jobs in recent weeks. Dozens of men sit in a separate room doing the same work.
“I receive a call, check the location and send the request to the proper authority as fast as possible, especially if it’s an emergency like fire or ambulance,” Shuwaibi said. The National Operations Center in Makkah launched two years ago, becoming the first in the Kingdom to unify government response services. There are plans for similar sites in Riyadh, Medina and the Eastern Province.
This is the first year the women’s section will operate during the Hajj, which is expected to attract about two million Muslims from around the world for a week of sacred rituals starting on Wednesday. Maj. Gen. Abdel Rahman Al-Saleh, who runs the operations center, said it receives around 65,000 calls each day during Hajj, 50 percent more than normal. “We consider the women’s section a step forward to demonstrate that women can work in any place and in any field,” Saleh said. There are plans to increase the number of women and offer them advanced training, he said.
Hassa Al-Badi, who manages the women’s section and has a master’s degree from an American university, said women callers sometimes asked to speak to another woman due to the sensitivity of their request. “Women are now present in the security sector and, God willing, they will continue to advance,” she said.
HA/IINA
