Campaigner speaks of journey from housewife to member of House of Lords

Campaigner speaks of journey from housewife to member of House of Lords
Shaista Gohir speaks during an event at the British Embassy in Riyadh. (AN Photo)
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Updated 14 April 2025
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Campaigner speaks of journey from housewife to member of House of Lords

Campaigner speaks of journey from housewife to member of House of Lords
  • Shaista Gohir spoke to an audience at the British Embassy about how she was inspired to represent her community
  • Gohir: Women at home have a skill set that you can apply to anything, and if you’ve got drive and willpower, you can do anything

RIYADH: The founder of an anti-discrimination charity for Muslim women in the UK spoke at a Riyadh event about her journey from being a housewife to becoming a member of the House of Lords.

Baroness Shaista Gohir, OBE, spoke to an audience at the British Embassy about how she was inspired to represent her community and built a charity to help resolve the issues they face.

“When I was putting on the TV, you would only see Muslim men commenting on behalf of the British Muslim diaspora, whether it was Pakistanis or just Muslims generally,” she said, referencing a time when public discussions about Islam in the UK were intensifying after the 2005 London bombings.

She described how she contacted some of the most prominent Islamic societies in the country and was “pretty much rejected by them.”

Not put off by the rejection, Gohir went on to found her own organization — the Muslim Women’s Network.

“I think they probably thought, I’m a housewife at home, what can she contribute? And I think that’s another lesson; I think a lot of people underestimate women.

“If someone’s a CEO or a manager or a director, they might think, wow, she did something brilliant, but women at home have a skill set that you can apply that to anything, and if you’ve got drive and willpower, you can do anything.”

The Muslim Women’s Network carries out research and advocacy work, aiming to tackle anti-Muslim discrimination in the household and workplace.

It offers faith-sensitive counselling services and a helpline, conducts workshops, and guides policy.

“Everything we do is looking at how Muslim women are discriminated against in their families, in their communities and in wider society,” she said.

Gohir spoke about how she has managed to influence government policy from the inside after being appointed a member of the House of Lords in 2022.

“In terms of policy influencing, I would say it’s a lot easier now that I’m in the House of Lords.

“From the outside, you might write a letter, you might not get a response. You might get a response six months later.

“Now it’s a little bit easier because the minister’s probably thinking, ‘Oh my God, I’m going to see her in the corridors, she wrote to me last week, I better reply to her.’ So I get my responses a lot faster.”

The women’s rights campaigner believes that faith-based discrimination is currently underreported in the British legal system.

This, she said, is partly due to an issue with how the police record crimes — if a discriminatory crime is believed to have been race-based, the police may not record it as faith-based.

“I hope that the law will change,” she said, explaining that one of her aims with the Muslim Women’s Network is to change the law to include “dual” reporting that will allow discrimination to be recorded as both race- and faith-based.


How Saudi Arabia is embracing AI to drive healthier lifestyles in line with Vision 2030

How Saudi Arabia is embracing AI to drive healthier lifestyles in line with Vision 2030
Updated 22 May 2025
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How Saudi Arabia is embracing AI to drive healthier lifestyles in line with Vision 2030

How Saudi Arabia is embracing AI to drive healthier lifestyles in line with Vision 2030
  • From smart hospitals to intelligent PE planning, the Kingdom is harnessing tech to improve public health outcomes
  • King Faisal Specialist Hospital uses AI to streamline patient care and educate families on managing long-term health conditions

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia is leveraging artificial intelligence to build a healthier, more active population — a central objective of Vision 2030, which commits to raising the quality of life for all citizens through physical wellbeing.

AI is playing a pivotal role in this national transformation, with its applications extending across the healthcare sector, educational institutions and even mobile fitness apps that support healthier daily habits.

AI applications now plays a significant role in healthcare, education and even mobile fitness apps that support healthier daily habits. (Getty Images)

One leader in this field is the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, which uses AI to streamline patient care, support post-treatment recovery and empower families through personalized health education.

“Today, we live in a golden digital innovation ecosystem in the Kingdom,” Dr. Ahmad AbuSalah, director of the Center for Healthcare Intelligence at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, told Arab News.

“It is a golden time for entrepreneurs, for innovators, for organizations and for researchers. In the hospital, we have a digital transformation journey that we take really seriously.”

Early this year, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre in Riyadh announced that it has successfully performed a robotic-assisted implantation of an artificial heart pump (HeartMate 3) developed by Abbott. (Photo courtesy of KFSHRC)

Driven by the healthcare transformation program of Vision 2030, the hospital’s strategy focuses on lowering costs, expanding access to care and delivering outstanding services — all supported by AI.

However, Dr. AbuSalah said that adoption of these new technologies must be strategic and sustainable if they are to have the desired effect on patient outcomes and medical practice.

“Some organizations build AI models, keep it for a couple of years, and then shut it down. Why? Because it wasn’t bringing value,” he said.

One of the most impactful uses of AI at King Faisal Specialist Hospital is operation intelligence, which helps to guide the patient journey from admission to discharge. The system uses predictive analytics to inform patients about their health and encourage targeted lifestyle changes.

“We built a system that will proactively predict a patient’s experience three days before their appointment for the cancer treatment unit,” Dr. AbuSalah said.

This helps doctors anticipate outcomes, manage expectations and intervene early where needed.

Dr. Ahmad AbuSalah, director of the Center for Healthcare Intelligence at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center in Riyadh. (Supplied)

The hospital’s AI tools also alleviate administrative burden on medical staff — a major cause of burnout. “If we remove the noise around the doctor, the care quality will be enhanced by itself,” Dr. AbuSalah said.

“You always hear the term ‘physician burnout’ because they are spending a lot of time on non-clinical tasks, on documentation, submitting orders here and there, generating reports. How can they focus on patients?”

By automating those tasks, AI frees up time for direct patient care, improving both staff wellbeing and service quality.

Outside the hospital setting, the same technology is helping Saudis to make better everyday health choices. AI-enabled apps now track sleep, diet and exercise, offering personalized insights to encourage small, achievable steps — such as walking or cycling.

In fact, walking and cycling are now the most popular forms of physical activity among Saudi adults, according to a 2024 General Authority for Statistics report.

DID YOU KNOW?

• Predictive AI can forecast patient experiences before appointments, enabling more personalized treatment.

• AI-powered apps help users to track their sleep, diet and activity for smarter, healthier daily habits.

• Schools are using AI to plan tailored PE lessons, making physical activity more engaging for students.

However, the report also noted a gender gap, with 23.2 percent of men being physically active compared to just 14 percent of women.

AI could help to close that gap, offering flexible, accessible ways for women to engage in exercise from home or within their communities.

Meanwhile, in schools across the Kingdom, AI is transforming physical education by helping teachers to tailor activities to individual students’ needs. This has made PE more engaging and inclusive — and part of a broader campaign to instill lifelong habits of fitness.

Last year, the Saudi Ministry of Education added rugby as an elective sport in its physical education curriculum, as part of an effort to promote the importance of having a healthy lifestyle among children. (AFP photo)

In a landmark move last year, the Ministry of Education introduced rugby as an elective sport — an initiative that underscores the growing importance of physical activity in the national curriculum.

But technology alone is not enough. To ensure lasting impact, experts say that the Kingdom must continue investing in infrastructure, educator training and custom tools that align with Saudi culture and goals.

Through such initiatives, Saudi Arabia is turning AI into more than just a technological leap — it is becoming a public health revolution, helping the nation move, live and feel better every day.
 

 


KSrelief chief meets UNICEF official in Brussels

KSrelief chief meets UNICEF official in Brussels
Updated 22 May 2025
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KSrelief chief meets UNICEF official in Brussels

KSrelief chief meets UNICEF official in Brussels

BRUSSELS: Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, adviser at the Royal Court and supervisor general of the Saudi aid agency KSrelief, recently conducted high-level discussions with UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell during the European Humanitarian Forum in Brussels.

The meeting, which included Saudi EU Ambassador Haifa Al-Jedea, focused on joint humanitarian and relief initiatives designed to enhance child welfare programs across global crisis zones.

Russell praised the ongoing partnership between UNICEF and KSrelief, highlighting how their collaboration has successfully delivered aid to millions of vulnerable children worldwide. She described the relationship as “an outstanding example of international humanitarian cooperation dedicated to serving children globally.”


Madinah university launches ‘Legacy and Impact’ project

Madinah university launches ‘Legacy and Impact’ project
Updated 22 May 2025
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Madinah university launches ‘Legacy and Impact’ project

Madinah university launches ‘Legacy and Impact’ project

 MADINAH: The Islamic University of Madinah has launched the “Irth Wa Athar” (Legacy and Impact) project, which aims to document its graduates’ educational impact and rectify data digitization.

The university said the initiative included documenting and rectifying graduates’ certificates from 1961-97 and collecting the data of 173,000 international scholarships offered by the university to its graduates from 179 countries since its establishment in 1961.

The international scholarships include more than 41,000 awarded to students in the fields of religious sciences, in addition to over 15,000 granted for studies in the principles and skills of Islamic preaching.

Some 27,000 scholarships were granted to students of Arabic language education, while 24,000 were offered for training specialists in other scientific fields.


Sakan wins Qassim excellence award

Sakan wins Qassim excellence award
Updated 22 May 2025
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Sakan wins Qassim excellence award

Sakan wins Qassim excellence award

RIYADH: The National Developmental Housing Corporation, or Sakan, has won the Qassim Award for Excellence and Creativity in the National Excellence Branch in its fifth session.

Yazeed Al-Rasheed, vice president for shared services at Sakan, received the award on behalf of the organization. He expressed his gratitude to officials for their support and recognition of national initiatives, saying that this was an incentive to continue efforts in cooperation with all parties.

Abdulaziz Al-Karidis, secretary-general of Sakan, thanked the Qassim governor for his support for Sakan’s initiatives and for following up and encouraging activities that achieved the foundation’s goals. Receiving the award would inspire the foundation to further enhance its performance and reinforce its core values, he said.

The win marks a milestone in the foundation’s journey and its commitment to excellence and innovation. The foundation continues to strive toward creating a positive and sustainable impact in the developmental housing sector by offering the best solutions and practices.


Black mulberry and damask rose seedlings distributed to farmers in Baha

Black mulberry and damask rose seedlings distributed to farmers in Baha
Updated 22 May 2025
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Black mulberry and damask rose seedlings distributed to farmers in Baha

Black mulberry and damask rose seedlings distributed to farmers in Baha

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s National Research and Development Center for Sustainable Agriculture — known as Estidamah — has distributed over 20,000 black mulberry and damask rose seedlings to farmers in Al-Baha.

The initiative, carried out through the center’s tissue culture laboratory, is part of efforts to support farmers and transfer modern agricultural techniques to areas with comparative advantages. It continues Estidamah’s contribution to a former agricultural project which saw 52,000 black mulberry, damask rose and strawberry seedlings distributed across the area.

The aim is to introduce new types of seedlings, increase production efficiency and achieve a qualitative leap in the region’s agricultural landscape.

It reflects the center’s keenness to support sustainable agricultural development by spreading highly economically viable plant varieties, which are propagated using tissue culture techniques to ensure quality, genetic purity and suitability to the targeted climatic and environmental conditions.

The center continues to implement several programs that aid farmers by providing research and technical solutions based on sustainable agricultural practices, achieving optimal efficiency in using resources and maximizing production value, in line with National Agriculture Strategy objectives.