Community Participation Policy

Introduction
The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs seeks to promote a culture of constructive dialogue and effective community participation by providing secure and easy-to-use electronic channels that enable all beneficiaries and those interested in diplomatic and consular affairs to share their opinions, ideas, and constructive suggestions. This policy comes in line with the directions of Vision 2030 and the national commitment to enhancing transparency and accountability, and ensuring that the voice of society is effectively heard in the diplomatic and consular decision-making process.

Definition of Electronic Participation
Electronic participation refers to the total of digital mechanisms and channels that enable beneficiaries of diplomatic and consular services, and those interested in Saudi foreign affairs, to effectively contribute to the development of the Ministry’s policies and procedures by submitting their feedback, suggestions, and opinions related to services, policies, regulations, and initiatives.

Policy Objectives
This Electronic Participation Policy aims to achieve the following:
A. Enhancing transparency and accountability: Publishing accurate and updated information about consular services and diplomatic policies and making it available to beneficiaries, while committing to publishing the results of electronic surveys and polls.
B. Empowering society: Providing an opportunity for all segments of society, regardless of their backgrounds and affiliations, to actively participate in decision-making and contribute to improving service quality.
C. Improving services: Benefiting from the observations and recommendations of beneficiaries to develop and improve the diplomatic and consular services provided to citizens, residents, and expatriate communities.
D. Building trust: Strengthening trust between the Ministry and beneficiaries through active listening and responding to suggestions and remarks.
E. Participation in decision-making: Involving society in discussions and consultations related to new or amended diplomatic and consular regulations and bylaws.
F. Raising awareness: Educating beneficiaries about available services and the rights and duties related to them through electronic participation platforms.

Electronic Participation Channels
The Ministry provides several channels for electronic participation:

1. The Ministry’s official website: (www.mofa.gov.sa) includes forms for submitting comments and suggestions regarding services and policies.
2. Dedicated electronic portal: A specialized digital platform that collects the Ministry’s consultations, surveys, and polls.
3. Government engagement platform: Participation in consultations and discussions related to regulations and bylaws issued by the Ministry.
4. Email service: The Ministry’s official email (customercare@mofa.gov.sa) for extended and detailed contributions.
5. Beneficiary Service Center: Phone contact via the unified number: 920011114 for submitting comments and suggestions.

Conditions and Controls for Electronic Participation
Participants must comply with the following conditions and controls:

1. Compliance with laws and regulations:
   • All submissions and comments must comply with the laws and regulations of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the international treaties ratified by the state.
   • They must not undermine state policy, national security, or national dignity.
2. Clarity and proper language:
   • The contribution must be written in correct, clear, and easy-to-understand Arabic.
   • A professional and formal style free of spelling and grammatical errors must be used.
   • Avoid using unclear symbols or incomprehensible language.
3. Seriousness and objectivity:
   • The contribution must be made seriously, objectively, and in good faith.
   • It should be concise and focused on the topic without unnecessary verbosity.
   • Contributions should be logical, discussable, and relevant to the presented topic.
4. Privacy protection:
   • Do not publish personal data: absolutely refrain from publishing or sharing personal information such as full names, phone numbers, addresses, email addresses, or any other personal identification data.
   • Do not publish others’ data without their explicit consent.
   • Maintain the confidentiality of secret or politically sensitive information.
5. Respect for others:
   • Completely refrain from writing offensive or morally indecent expressions.
   • Do not directly criticize employees or officials personally.
   • Avoid incitement, hatred, or discrimination against any group.
6. No abuse or exploitation:
   • Refrain from using the Ministry’s electronic platforms for commercial or advertising purposes.
   • Do not use the channels to publish illegal, misleading, or offensive content.
   • Do not attempt to hack or disrupt the Ministry’s systems or compromise their security.
7. No repetition:
   • Submit the contribution only once for each topic to avoid clutter and unnecessary repetition.
8. Topical relevance:
   • The contribution must be limited to the presented topic and not diverted to other topics.

Participants’ Rights
Participants have the following rights:
• The right to freedom of expression: To freely express their opinions and suggestions in a manner that does not conflict with the law.
• The right to autonomy: Not to be exposed to any retaliation or legal pursuit merely for submitting a constructive contribution.
• The right to privacy: Protection of personal data and non-sharing with external parties.
• The right to reply: Receiving a clear response regarding important contributions and major suggestions.
• The right to equality: Equal treatment regardless of origin, color, gender, or political opinion.

Ministry Obligations
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is committed to:
• Reviewing and evaluating contributions: Studying all received electronic contributions carefully and evaluating them in accordance with the set conditions.
• Publishing and responding: Responding to important and constructive contributions and suggestions clearly and within a reasonable timeframe.
• Publishing results: Announcing the results of electronic surveys and polls, and ensuring transparency of figures and outcomes.
• Developing services: Benefiting from comments and suggestions in improving and developing services and policies.
• Transparency: Publishing the electronic participation policies and updating them periodically.
• Protection and security: Protecting participants’ personal data and ensuring the security of electronic participation platforms.
• Training: Training employees on how to handle electronic participation in a professional and sensitive manner.

Ministry Rights
The Ministry has the following rights:
• The right to choose and delete: The full right to publish, not publish, or delete contributions that violate the policy or laws, without the need to provide detailed reasons.
• The right to edit: Correcting minor spelling or grammatical errors without changing the essence of the contribution.
• Security protection: Deleting any contribution that threatens system security or platform integrity.
• Disclaimer: The Ministry is not legally responsible for publishing any comments or remarks through electronic participation channels, and bears no legal obligation toward the content of contributions.

Contribution Handling Process
Stage One: Receipt and registration
Contributions are received through the specified channels and registered in an electronic processing system.

Stage Two: Initial evaluation
The Ministry evaluates the contribution to ensure its compliance with the specified conditions and controls.

Stage Three: Review and analysis
Accepted contributions, comments, and suggestions are analyzed and categorized by topic.

Stage Four: Publication and response
Accepted contributions are published on the official platforms and constructive suggestions are responded to.

Stage Five: Implementation and follow-up
Accepted recommendations are implemented and their execution is followed up.

Grievance and Complaint Mechanisms
Participants have the right to submit a grievance in the following cases:
• Deletion of a contribution without a convincing reason that conflicts with the policy conditions.
• Failure to process the contribution within the specified timeframe.
• Misuse of personal data.

Grievances are submitted through:
• Email: customercare@mofa.gov.sa
• Unified government complaints platform
• Beneficiary Service Center

Monitoring and Evaluation
The Ministry shall:
• Periodic evaluation: Evaluate the effectiveness of the Electronic Participation Policy annually.
• Data collection: Compile statistics on the number of received contributions, suggestions, and comments.
• Impact measurement: Measure the extent of contributions’ impact on improving services.
• Reports: Publish annual reports on the results of electronic participation.

Review and Update
This policy shall be reviewed periodically (at least annually) by the Digital Transformation Sector in coordination with the Ministry’s relevant departments, in order to keep pace with technical and legislative developments and improve the mechanisms in place.

Contact Information
Electronic Participation Department – Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• Website: mofa.gov.sa
• Specialized email: customercare@mofa.gov.sa
• Unified number: 920011114

Final Provisions
​• Accessing the electronic participation platforms shall be considered implicit acceptance of the terms and controls of this policy.
• The Ministry reserves the right to amend this policy at any time.​