RIYADH — The Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing has set May 3 as the deadline for all shopping malls across the Kingdom with an area covering 40,000 square meters or more to arrange exclusive hospitality centers for children at a minimum space of 50 square meters. The ministry has urged the owners to expedite measures to correct their status with regard to implementing this directive before the deadline. "The failure to comply with this condition set by the ministry is considered as a violation. The concerned mayoralties and municipalities will take punitive measures against the violating establishments," the ministry said in a statement. The ministry clarified that the aim of this new requirement is to enable women to enter the labor market and provide a suitable work environment for them, as the provision of children's hospitality centers in malls will help remove obstacles that stand in the way of mothers taking up jobs at these commercial centers. It also supports working women to maintain their employment as well as to increase the proportion of Saudi working women in the private sector. "This step comes within the framework of cooperation, coordination and integration between government agencies and partnership with the private sector to provide the best services to all segments of the society, particularly between the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development to include the requirement of making available and operating children's hospitality center directly or through investors within the requirements for obtaining a license for commercial centers (malls)," the ministry said. It is noteworthy that in November 2020 the ministry had given owners of malls a period of six months to correct their status with regard to hospitality centers. However, this directive is not applicable to malls designated for men-only products.
