When I mention to family, friends and acquaintances that I have been in Saudi Arabia twice this year, I never fail to see the shock on their faces. As an active feminist, it is about the last place many would expect me to go. In the West, Saudi Arabia is considered one of the most repressive states in the world in terms of civil liberties, a dubious honour it shares with places such as Iran, China and North Korea. In addition, it is also considered a hotbed of violent Islamic “extremists” in wake of 9/11, with 15 of the 19 hijackers holding Saudi citizenship, as well as the 2003 attacks in Riyadh which targeted Western expatriates. Women in Saudi Arabia are thought of as being cowering, oppressed creatures, forbidden to drive, forced into the black coverings of the abaya and hijab and unable to interact with unrelated men. There is evident gender inequality in Saudi society: women simply do not hold the rights that men do in many areas of life. However, this is not the only inequality in Saudi society. There are blatant class disparities, most starkly seen in the armies of modern-day indentured labourers from the subcontinent, Philippines and East Africa who relentlessly cook, clean and drive around their Saudi masters. There is little religious freedom: non-Islamic places of worship are banned (although religious ceremonies do take place in private) and the Shia minority (numbering around 10% of the population) is routinely discriminated against. Furthermore, there are many restrictions on political freedom in this absolute monarchical state: political parties are banned, there is widespread censorship of the media (some of it by the state, some by journalists themselves) and very little public criticism of the government. Nevertheless, against this backdrop, some progress has been made in recent years, due in part to the accession of the reformist King Abdullah to the Saudi throne in 2005. For Saudi women, this has manifested especially in the field of education. As well as the establishment of dedicated educational institutions for women (necessary due to the policy of sex segregation), earlier this year the government appointed Nora al-Fayez to run the female section of the Ministry of Education (a role previously occupied by clerics). In addition, partly as a result of the initiative launched by the King to create a national dialogue, women have been more vocal in Saudi society in campaigning for their rights: they have been calling for the widespread enforcement of a ministerial decree allowing them to set up business without a male agent, and petitioned the King to lift the ban on them driving. I was in Saudi Arabia in January to attend the second Two Kingdoms Youth Forum, organised by the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Saudi Ministry for Foreign Affairs, providing a space for dialogue between young people from the UK and Saudi Arabia. Unusually for Saudi Arabia, the Forum was not segregated by gender, thus providing a rare opportunity for young Saudi men and women to meet each other in public, as well as their British counterparts. A number of organisations from the UK and Saudi Arabia promoting youth participation attended, including my own, European Alternatives. In the spirit of reform which has marked King Abdullah’s reign, this Forum was established to foster understanding between UK and Saudi young people, promote partnership and encourage social development. As a result of the Youth Forum, European Alternatives has entered into a partnership with Effat University, a higher education institution for women based in Jeddah, with the aim of promoting links between universities, academics and students in the UK and Saudi Arabia. Effat University provides a small yet important counter-example to those who view Saudi Arabia as a state wholly repressive of women: its stated mission is to educate its female students at an “international standard” by providing an interdisciplinary environment for them to learn. Effat’s curriculum is pioneering in Saudi Arabia by teaching a range of subjects beyond theology, business and sciences which make up the majority of tertiary study: classes in psychology, English literature and architecture are offered. The Effat students I met were intelligent, articulate and unafraid of expressing their opinions on just about any matter imaginable (albeit in the safety of private surroundings). It is true that these women are from the more privileged echelons of Saudi society (although there are students at Effat on need-based scholarships), which are more likely to be “Westernised”, liberal and untroubled by socio-economic division in society. Nevertheless, if nothing else, one would hope that their education in subjects where some degree of critical thinking is required, coupled with their membership of an influential class in Saudi society, would awaken a consciousness in them to effect progressive change for Saudi women as a whole, and succeed in doing so. With this aim of closer links in mind, the first stage of European Alternatives’ project with Effat University comprises connecting UK and Saudi university students to promote a positive notion of global citizenship. Students from both countries who take an active role in their universities and communities are producing a training manual for young people on inter-cultural dialogue, which will include chapters on transnational student citizenship, women’s education and cultural diversity. Due to media coverage, public perceptions, and the sheer difficulty of entering Saudi Arabia for purposes other than business or pilgrimage, the average British citizen has very little knowledge or understanding of life in Saudi Arabia. Through this project, we hope to increase understanding, and also to provide a space for reflection on both of our societies. In addition to encouraging further development in Saudi Arabia, this provides an opportunity for us to consider the role of women in the UK. As a cosmopolitan (and not imperialist) feminist, I believe that we can learn from other cultures’ perspectives on the role of women, and the reality of women’s lives in these cultures, to understand the different forms that gender inequality takes, to recognise inequalities in our own societies, and to find solutions which will further the goal of gender equality at home as well as globally. Although the UK, thanks to the many achievements of the feminist movement, is a society with a better record on gender equality, the position of women here is not perfect. To build a more equal future for women in this country and in other parts of the world, we must accept some of the present realities by seizing opportunities to work with those willing to work with us in a constructive fashion, whether they are in Riyadh or Reykjavik, despite not agreeing on every matter. By engaging and establishing dialogue with Saudi women, this is something our project aims to do.