HRW: Saudi Arabia vows to help women

GENEVA, Switzerland, June 12 (UPI) -- Human Rights Watch said Friday Saudi Arabia has pledged to improve women's rights by eliminating gender discrimination.

Human Rights Watch said in a release Saudi Arabian leaders have agreed also to attempt to end the country's current system of male ownership of women and grant women in Saudi Arabia a full legal identity.

"Saudi women have waited a long time for these changes," Nisha Varia, deputy director of the non-governmental organization's women's rights division. "Now they need concrete action so that these commitments do not remain words on paper in Geneva, but are felt by Saudi women in their daily lives."

The decision by Saudi Arabian leaders came during Wednesday's review by the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Human Rights Watch said members of the United Nations recommended in February that Saudi Arabia attempt to improve the rights of the country's female population.