King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of S. Arabia

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia said on Tuesday that it will allow women to drive for the first time, thus ending one of the practices that has earned it negative publicity from gender activists.

Saudi Press Agency reported late Tuesday that a royal order has been issued for both men and women to be issued drivers’ licenses.

The agency also reported that a committee will be set up to devise how to implement the new order.

Saudi Arabia was the only the country in the world where women cannot drive for many years and women who defied the ban were usually hurled into detention.

But demand for lifting of the ban has been on since the 1990s.