'Women have the right to drive' - Saudi announcement at UN

Speaking at the United Nations, Abdallah Al Mouallimi, the Permanent Representative of Saudi Arabia to the UN, says a decree by the Saudi king allowing women to drive is 'historic'.
Custodian of the Two Mosques King Salman Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia on Tuesday (September 26) ordered that women be allowed to drive cars.
Speaking at the United Nations, Abdallah Al Mouallimi, the Permanent Representative of Saudi Arabia to the UN, said that it was a historic day for Saudi society.
The kingdom has been widely criticized for being the only country in the world that bans women from driving, despite gradual improvement on some women's issues in recent years and ambitious government targets to increase their public role, especially in the workforce. Despite trying to cultivate a more modern image in recent years, the driving ban had been a long-standing stain on Saudi Arabia's international image.
For more than 25 years, women activists have campaigned to be allowed to drive, defiantly taking to the road, petitioning the king and posting videos of themselves behind the wheel on social media. The protests brought them arrest.