These Omani women have a solution for the plastics problem

Muscat: Omani women continue to achieve success in many areas, especially within the framework of their local community, exploiting the opportunities provided by the state to help contribute to Oman's gross domestic product.
Omani females join males in building the nation across various areas of life. They are a role model to follow in contributing to the country's development process.
Many government and private institutions, such as the Omani Women Association, supervised by the Ministry of Social Development and voluntary teams, seek to empower Omani women.
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Sidab Women Group is one of the unique models in empowering women through establishing a project that benefits the participants. It is an environment-friendly project that is based on the manufacturing of environmentally friendly bags, with the idea being that they replace plastic bags.
The bags are manufactured in different shapes and sizes of cotton and knitted fabrics that are woven, either traditionally or manually. They are natural materials that are harmful neither to the environment or to wildlife.
They are characterised by a modern design inspired by traditional Omani heritage, and are related to the textile materials manufactured from the knitted material used to make the clothes and mattresses with which traditional houses are adorned.
The idea of the project came to Badria bint Malallah Al Seyabiya in 2004, who wanted to benefit to low-income families from Sidab in the Governorate of Muscat. It started at Al Bustan School, with four traditional machines, on which seven housewives and a number of female volunteers used to work.
The project commenced with the marketing and promotion of the eco-friendly bags, which were initially marketed to tourists coming to visit the Sultanate. The demand for the bags increased, as did the number of women who joined the proect, followed by the expansion stage and the rental of a special site for the project at Sidab. The number of modern machines used in production of high quality bags in record-time has also increased.
“The women’s project is one of the projects that has contributed to the empowerment of Omani women and the transformation of housewives into producers in their homes, by training and enabling them to sew bags designed by Omani women who are members of the group,” Lamis bint Sinan Al Kiyumiyah, Head of Sidab Women Group said.