Ivanka Trump praises Saudi Arabia’s progress on women’s rights – USA TODAY

While traveling with President Trump on his trip to Saudi Arabia, his daughter, Ivanka Trump, and First Lady Melania Trump reportedly decided not to wear headscarves. Veuer's Aaron Dickens has more. Buzz60

Ivanka Trump appears at a ceremony where her father, President Trump, received the Order of Abdulaziz al-Saud medal from Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud at the Saudi Royal Court in Riyadh Saturday.(Photo: MANDEL NGAN, AFP/Getty Images)

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia Ivanka Trump advocated for the greater inclusion of women in theSaudi Arabian workforceon Sunday as the World Bank announced that Arab countries had contributed $100 million toward a global women's initiative she has championed.

Saudi Arabias progress, especially in recent years, is very encouraging but theres still a lot of work to be done and freedoms and opportunities to continue to fight for," Trump said at a women's roundtable in Riyadh as her father, President Trump, met separately with Arab leaders.

In every country around the world women and girls continue to face unique systematic, institutional, cultural barriers, which hinder us from fully engaging in and achieving true parity of opportunity within our communities," she said."Each of you know this to be true. And yet the stories of Saudi women, such as yourselves, catalyzing change, inspire me to believe in the possibility of global womens empowerment.

Women in Saudi Arabia are prohibited from driving or travelling alone, and society imposes strict segregation of the sexes in public places. Reporters were escorted out of the event before those issues could come up.

But there have also been reforms, including curbs on the enforcement power of religious police and the king's grant of voting rights in local elections.

Headlining the discussion with prominent Saudi women,Ivanka Trump showcased her position as a distinctly female voice in a White House wheremen outnumber womentwo-to-one in top policy positions.As a female leader within the Trump administration, my focus is to help empower women in the United States and around the globe, she said Sunday.

Among the issues she's advocated to her father: More generous child care and family leave policies, which she said would be included in the budget that Trump will propose to Congress this week.

"The need to empower and engage women transcends borders and cultures. Whether in the United States or in Saudi Arabia, women play a critical role in a movement that unites us all," she said.

Trump was invited to the event by SaudiPrincess Reema bint Bandar, a retail executive, women's sports promoter, divorced mother and social activist who has emerged as a leading voice for women's rights in the socially conservative country. It's through the retail industry that Reema and Ivanka first met. "That life in retail took us through to various journeys and exposed us actually to what other womens experiences in the workplace were," Reema said.

Ivanka Trump's comments came at a forum at whichWorld Bank President Jim Yong Kim announced that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have pledged a combined$100 million towards a proposed $1 billionglobal women's entrepreneurship fund an initiative pushed by Ivanka Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

We thought it was a fantastic idea," Kimsaid.But we had no idea how quickly this would build. This is really a stunning achievement. Ive never seen anything come together so quickly, and I really have to say that Ivankas leadership has been tremendous.

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Ivanka Trump praises Saudi Arabia's progress on women's rights - USA TODAY