The wife of His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, Her Highness Sheikha Manal bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairwoman of the Emirates Council for Gender Balance, announced that in the next few days, the UAE-inspired gender balance strategy will be launched. From the strategy of the next fifty years directed by His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the State, may God protect him, and announced by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, and His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, The Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, and in line with the state’s directions in the next phase to enhance its competitiveness and consolidate its position as a leading country in various fields.
Her Highness said that the Emirates Council for Gender Balance succeeded in translating its first strategy for the past five years and transforming its objectives into tangible achievements in line with the vision and directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum when the Council was established in 2015 to work on making the UAE one of the top 25 countries in the world with the UNDP Gender Equality Index in 2021, considering it the most important global indicator in this field and making the UAE a global model for balance and a reference for its legislation in the region.
Her Highness said that the UAE, thanks to the unlimited support provided by the wise leadership and Her Highness Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Chairwoman of the General Women’s Union, President of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood, and Supreme President of the Family Development Foundation, was able to achieve this goal ahead of schedule in the Gender Equality Index issued by the United Nations Program United Nations Development Program 2020, where it came in the 18th place globally and first in the Arab world, achieving a qualitative leap by an average of 31 places in this report within 5 years, as it was ranked 49th globally in 2015.
A jump in global indices
The UAE has also made qualitative leaps in its ranking in other global competitiveness indicators, as it ranked first in the Middle East and North Africa for two consecutive years in the World Bank report “Women, Business Activities and the Law 2021 and 2022”, which monitors the efforts of governments around the world regarding the development of laws and legislation aimed at protecting Empowering women economically within 8 axes, achieving a qualitative leap to reach 82.5 points in the overall index with a full score (100 points) in 5 axes: freedom of movement, workplaces, wages, entrepreneurship, and pension. It achieved first place in the Arab world in the Gender Gap Report 2021 issued by the World Economic Forum, and ranked first in the world in 4 sub-indicators within this important international report: the parliamentary representation of women, the literacy rate, the gender ratio at birth, and the enrollment rate Girls in primary education.
The UAE topped the world in the indicator of the percentage of female representation in parliament for the years 2020 and 2021 within the Global Competitiveness Report issued by the Institute for Administrative Development in Switzerland, and the Arab countries also topped the representation of women in decision-making positions and leadership and senior positions, according to the latest report on the participation of Arab women in decision-making positions. , issued in July 2021 by the Council on Foreign Relations, a non-governmental organization concerned with research and studies based in New York.
These achievements come as a continuation of its advancing ranks in many global indicators during the past few years, as the countries of the world topped the index of respect for women within the report of indicators of social development in the countries of the world, issued by the International Agenda Council of the World Economic Forum in 2014, and also achieved the first place Globally in 2017, in gender balance in property rights, according to the Prosperity Index report issued by the London-based Legatum Institute, and first in the world in gender balance in the literacy rate, according to the gender gap report issued by the World Economic Forum, and first in the world in the index The absence of a gender gap in secondary education enrollment under the age of 15, according to the Human Capital Report issued by the World Economic Forum.
forward vision
Her Highness Sheikha Manal bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum said that these successive achievements of the UAE in global indicators and reports reflect the international appreciation of its global stature, and come as an affirmation of its forward-looking vision and ambitions for the next fifty years to reach global leadership in various fields. The achievements were great efforts and qualitative projects that the Emirates Council for Gender Balance worked on with the support of the wise leadership of the state, which placed this file among the priorities of the national agenda. Cooperation and coordination among all state institutions contributed to its achievement, so that gender balance became an institutional culture and daily work approach in these institutions. In addition to the council’s success in building and strengthening fruitful global partnerships with countries and international organizations that have distinguished experiences in gender balance policies, it was keen to exchange experiences and knowledge with them and launch joint projects with tangible impact at the local and global levels, based on the UAE’s keenness to support international efforts aimed at consolidating Gender balance and promoting women’s economic, social and political participation and access to education For various services equally with man.
National efforts and collective action
Her Highness praised the intensive national efforts over the past five years, and the great collective work of a team that included representatives from the Emirates Council for Gender Balance, the Federal Center for Competitiveness and Statistics, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation and the Central Bank of the Emirates, noting that this team worked under the directives of the UAE government to study and review Laws and legislation related to gender balance and women’s economic empowerment, and the development of an organized action plan to study ways to develop it in cooperation with the concerned federal authorities, guided by national indicators and taking into account the best global practices. New laws and policies and legislative improvements have already been issued for more than 20 legal articles, including the areas of work, protection and participation. Political, personal status, the judiciary, wages, banking transactions, freedom of movement, marriage, entrepreneurship, property and pension, all of which enhance the status of women, guarantee and protect their rights, transform gender balance into institutional work, and raise the percentage of women’s representation in various sectors and fields, including leadership positions, decision-making centers and support Its important role in Political, economic and social development, a translation of the vision of the priorities and directives of our wise leadership and its affirmation that gender balance is one of the important axes of the next fifty years strategy.
Her Highness Sheikha Manal bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum explained that the most important new laws, legislative amendments and improvements that were issued in the past two years included:
First: In the field of work
Federal Decree Law No. 6 of 2020 amending some provisions of Federal Law No. 8 of 1980 regarding the regulation of labor relations, issued by His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the State, may God protect him, granting workers in the private sector a paid “parental leave” The wages to take care of his child, thus making the UAE the first Arab country to grant parental leave to workers in the private sector.
A Cabinet decision headed by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, in 2019 to equal salaries and wages for both sexes in government agencies, making the UAE the first country in the region to issue legislation of this kind.
Abolishing all restrictions imposed on women working at night and working in hard jobs such as mining, construction, manufacturing, energy, agriculture and transportation, to give women the right to work in these industries.
The labor law does not allow the employer to terminate the service of a working woman or warn her because of her pregnancy.
The Labor Organization Law prohibits discrimination between employees in obtaining jobs and promotion, and gender discrimination in jobs with the same job functions.
Second: In the field of political participation
The decision of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the State, may God protect him, in 2019 to raise the percentage of women’s representation in the Federal National Council to 50 percent.
Third: In the field of banking transactions
In 2019, the UAE Central Bank issued a circular to all banks and finance and exchange companies operating in the country regarding gender equality and non-discrimination in banking transactions and access to credit.
Fourth: Amending some articles in the Personal Status Law
Fifth: In the field of combating discrimination
His Highness the President of the State issued a federal decree-law in 2019 on combating discrimination and hatred prohibiting all forms of discrimination on the basis of sex.
Sixth: In the field of protection
The UAE has issued a domestic violence law that protects all individuals, male and female, without discrimination.
Issuance of a law that punishes with imprisonment and a fine or with one of the two penalties whoever exposes a woman in a way that offends her modesty by word or deed on a public road or a frequented place.
Seventh: In the field of the judiciary
Cabinet decision 2019 to represent women in the judiciary.
quality projects
Her Highness, President of the Emirates Council for Gender Balance, referred to a number of pioneering initiatives and projects launched by the Emirates Council for Gender Balance during the past five years to consolidate the concept of balance and transform it into an institutional culture, including the development and launch of the “Gender Balance Manual: Practical Steps for Institutions in the UAE.” , in cooperation with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, as the first guide of its kind in the world to support gender balance in public and private sector institutions. The development and launch of the Gender Balance Index for the UAE, in cooperation with the Prime Minister’s Office in the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs, based on the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, as this national indicator represented an important incentive for government and private agencies to implement gender-supportive policies and initiatives in The work environment, and the Council launched the “Global Balance Circles” initiative, as an inspiring platform to promote global dialogue on the best policies that support gender balance at all levels and accelerate work to achieve the fifth goal of the Sustainable Development Goals 2030 related to achieving balance and empowering all women and girls. This initiative has 5 global balance circles in New York and Washington (2017), Brussels (2018) and Dubai (within the work of the World Government Summit 2019), while the fifth global balance ring was held in March 2021 via the Internet on the sidelines of the meetings of the 65th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW65). )), of the United Nations Economic and Social Council under the title “Women’s Participation and Leadership: From Strategy to Practice”, and these seminars discussed many issues and the best policies SAT supports gender balance and women’s economic empowerment.
Her Highness said that as a result of the support that Emirati women receive from the leadership of the state and their efficiency and responsibility, the percentage of their representation in various sectors and in specialized fields such as engineering, space, information technology and banking has increased, in addition to an increase in the percentage of their participation in leadership positions and decision-making centers. Which is one of the main objectives of the Emirates Council for Gender Balance. The representation of women in the Federal National Council has increased to 50% of the number of members by a decision of His Highness the President of the State, may God protect him, and it is one of the highest rates in the world, and her representation in the UAE government is up to About 27.5% of the total number of ministers, which is also one of the highest ratios globally and regionally, and women currently represent about 30% of the workers in the diplomatic corps in the country, and occupy 24% of the members of the boards of directors of federal government agencies and 19.8% of the members of the boards of directors of chambers Trade and industry in the country.
The wife of His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, Her Highness Sheikha Manal bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairwoman of the Emirates Council for Gender Balance, announced that in the next few days, the UAE-inspired gender balance strategy will be launched. From the strategy of the next fifty years directed by His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the State, may God protect him, and announced by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, and His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, The Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, and in line with the state’s directions in the next phase to enhance its competitiveness and consolidate its position as a leading country in various fields.
Her Highness said that the Emirates Council for Gender Balance succeeded in translating its first strategy for the past five years and transforming its objectives into tangible achievements in line with the vision and directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum when the Council was established in 2015 to work on making the UAE one of the top 25 countries in the world with the UNDP Gender Equality Index in 2021, considering it the most important global indicator in this field and making the UAE a global model for balance and a reference for its legislation in the region.
Her Highness said that the UAE, thanks to the unlimited support provided by the wise leadership and Her Highness Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Chairwoman of the General Women’s Union, President of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood, and Supreme President of the Family Development Foundation, was able to achieve this goal ahead of schedule in the Gender Equality Index issued by the United Nations Program United Nations Development Program 2020, where it came in the 18th place globally and first in the Arab world, achieving a qualitative leap by an average of 31 places in this report within 5 years, as it was ranked 49th globally in 2015.
A jump in global indices
The UAE has also made qualitative leaps in its ranking in other global competitiveness indicators, as it ranked first in the Middle East and North Africa for two consecutive years in the World Bank report “Women, Business Activities and the Law 2021 and 2022”, which monitors the efforts of governments around the world regarding the development of laws and legislation aimed at protecting Empowering women economically within 8 axes, achieving a qualitative leap to reach 82.5 points in the overall index with a full score (100 points) in 5 axes: freedom of movement, workplaces, wages, entrepreneurship, and pension. It achieved first place in the Arab world in the Gender Gap Report 2021 issued by the World Economic Forum, and ranked first in the world in 4 sub-indicators within this important international report: the parliamentary representation of women, the literacy rate, the gender ratio at birth, and the enrollment rate Girls in primary education.
The UAE topped the world in the indicator of the percentage of female representation in parliament for the years 2020 and 2021 within the Global Competitiveness Report issued by the Institute for Administrative Development in Switzerland, and the Arab countries also topped the representation of women in decision-making positions and leadership and senior positions, according to the latest report on the participation of Arab women in decision-making positions. , issued in July 2021 by the Council on Foreign Relations, a non-governmental organization concerned with research and studies based in New York.
These achievements come as a continuation of its advancing ranks in many global indicators during the past few years, as the countries of the world topped the index of respect for women within the report of indicators of social development in the countries of the world, issued by the International Agenda Council of the World Economic Forum in 2014, and also achieved the first place Globally in 2017, in gender balance in property rights, according to the Prosperity Index report issued by the London-based Legatum Institute, and first in the world in gender balance in the literacy rate, according to the gender gap report issued by the World Economic Forum, and first in the world in the index The absence of a gender gap in secondary education enrollment under the age of 15, according to the Human Capital Report issued by the World Economic Forum.
forward vision
Her Highness Sheikha Manal bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum said that these successive achievements of the UAE in global indicators and reports reflect the international appreciation of its global stature, and come as an affirmation of its forward-looking vision and ambitions for the next fifty years to reach global leadership in various fields. The achievements were great efforts and qualitative projects that the Emirates Council for Gender Balance worked on with the support of the wise leadership of the state, which placed this file among the priorities of the national agenda. Cooperation and coordination among all state institutions contributed to its achievement, so that gender balance became an institutional culture and daily work approach in these institutions. In addition to the council’s success in building and strengthening fruitful global partnerships with countries and international organizations that have distinguished experiences in gender balance policies, it was keen to exchange experiences and knowledge with them and launch joint projects with tangible impact at the local and global levels, based on the UAE’s keenness to support international efforts aimed at consolidating Gender balance and promoting women’s economic, social and political participation and access to education For various services equally with man.
National efforts and collective action
Her Highness praised the intensive national efforts over the past five years, and the great collective work of a team that included representatives from the Emirates Council for Gender Balance, the Federal Center for Competitiveness and Statistics, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation and the Central Bank of the Emirates, noting that this team worked under the directives of the UAE government to study and review Laws and legislation related to gender balance and women’s economic empowerment, and the development of an organized action plan to study ways to develop it in cooperation with the concerned federal authorities, guided by national indicators and taking into account the best global practices. New laws and policies and legislative improvements have already been issued for more than 20 legal articles, including the areas of work, protection and participation. Political, personal status, the judiciary, wages, banking transactions, freedom of movement, marriage, entrepreneurship, property and pension, all of which enhance the status of women, guarantee and protect their rights, transform gender balance into institutional work, and raise the percentage of women’s representation in various sectors and fields, including leadership positions, decision-making centers and support Its important role in Political, economic and social development, a translation of the vision of the priorities and directives of our wise leadership and its affirmation that gender balance is one of the important axes of the next fifty years strategy.
Her Highness Sheikha Manal bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum explained that the most important new laws, legislative amendments and improvements that were issued in the past two years included:
First: In the field of work
Federal Decree Law No. 6 of 2020 amending some provisions of Federal Law No. 8 of 1980 regarding the regulation of labor relations, issued by His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the State, may God protect him, granting workers in the private sector a paid “parental leave” The wages to take care of his child, thus making the UAE the first Arab country to grant parental leave to workers in the private sector.
A Cabinet decision headed by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, in 2019 to equal salaries and wages for both sexes in government agencies, making the UAE the first country in the region to issue legislation of this kind.
Abolishing all restrictions imposed on women working at night and working in hard jobs such as mining, construction, manufacturing, energy, agriculture and transportation, to give women the right to work in these industries.
The labor law does not allow the employer to terminate the service of a working woman or warn her because of her pregnancy.
The Labor Organization Law prohibits discrimination between employees in obtaining jobs and promotion, and gender discrimination in jobs with the same job functions.
Second: In the field of political participation
The decision of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the State, may God protect him, in 2019 to raise the percentage of women’s representation in the Federal National Council to 50 percent.
Third: In the field of banking transactions
In 2019, the UAE Central Bank issued a circular to all banks and finance and exchange companies operating in the country regarding gender equality and non-discrimination in banking transactions and access to credit.
Fourth: Amending some articles in the Personal Status Law
Fifth: In the field of combating discrimination
His Highness the President of the State issued a federal decree-law in 2019 on combating discrimination and hatred prohibiting all forms of discrimination on the basis of sex.
Sixth: In the field of protection
The UAE has issued a domestic violence law that protects all individuals, male and female, without discrimination.
Issuance of a law that punishes with imprisonment and a fine or with one of the two penalties whoever exposes a woman in a way that offends her modesty by word or deed on a public road or a frequented place.
Seventh: In the field of the judiciary
Cabinet decision 2019 to represent women in the judiciary.
quality projects
Her Highness, President of the Emirates Council for Gender Balance, referred to a number of pioneering initiatives and projects launched by the Emirates Council for Gender Balance during the past five years to consolidate the concept of balance and transform it into an institutional culture, including the development and launch of the “Gender Balance Manual: Practical Steps for Institutions in the UAE.” , in cooperation with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, as the first guide of its kind in the world to support gender balance in public and private sector institutions. The development and launch of the Gender Balance Index for the UAE, in cooperation with the Prime Minister’s Office in the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs, based on the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, as this national indicator represented an important incentive for government and private agencies to implement gender-supportive policies and initiatives in The work environment, and the Council launched the “Global Balance Circles” initiative, as an inspiring platform to promote global dialogue on the best policies that support gender balance at all levels and accelerate work to achieve the fifth goal of the Sustainable Development Goals 2030 related to achieving balance and empowering all women and girls. This initiative has 5 global balance circles in New York and Washington (2017), Brussels (2018) and Dubai (within the work of the World Government Summit 2019), while the fifth global balance ring was held in March 2021 via the Internet on the sidelines of the meetings of the 65th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW65). )), of the United Nations Economic and Social Council under the title “Women’s Participation and Leadership: From Strategy to Practice”, and these seminars discussed many issues and the best policies SAT supports gender balance and women’s economic empowerment.
Her Highness said that as a result of the support that Emirati women receive from the leadership of the state and their efficiency and responsibility, the percentage of their representation in various sectors and in specialized fields such as engineering, space, information technology and banking has increased, in addition to an increase in the percentage of their participation in leadership positions and decision-making centers. Which is one of the main objectives of the Emirates Council for Gender Balance. The representation of women in the Federal National Council has increased to 50% of the number of members by a decision of His Highness the President of the State, may God protect him, and it is one of the highest rates in the world, and her representation in the UAE government is up to About 27.5% of the total number of ministers, which is also one of the highest ratios globally and regionally, and women currently represent about 30% of the workers in the diplomatic corps in the country, and occupy 24% of the members of the boards of directors of federal government agencies and 19.8% of the members of the boards of directors of chambers Trade and industry in the country.
The wife of His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, Her Highness Sheikha Manal bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairwoman of the Emirates Council for Gender Balance, announced that in the next few days, the UAE-inspired gender balance strategy will be launched. From the strategy of the next fifty years directed by His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the State, may God protect him, and announced by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, and His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, The Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, and in line with the state’s directions in the next phase to enhance its competitiveness and consolidate its position as a leading country in various fields.
Her Highness said that the Emirates Council for Gender Balance succeeded in translating its first strategy for the past five years and transforming its objectives into tangible achievements in line with the vision and directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum when the Council was established in 2015 to work on making the UAE one of the top 25 countries in the world with the UNDP Gender Equality Index in 2021, considering it the most important global indicator in this field and making the UAE a global model for balance and a reference for its legislation in the region.
Her Highness said that the UAE, thanks to the unlimited support provided by the wise leadership and Her Highness Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Chairwoman of the General Women’s Union, President of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood, and Supreme President of the Family Development Foundation, was able to achieve this goal ahead of schedule in the Gender Equality Index issued by the United Nations Program United Nations Development Program 2020, where it came in the 18th place globally and first in the Arab world, achieving a qualitative leap by an average of 31 places in this report within 5 years, as it was ranked 49th globally in 2015.
A jump in global indices
The UAE has also made qualitative leaps in its ranking in other global competitiveness indicators, as it ranked first in the Middle East and North Africa for two consecutive years in the World Bank report “Women, Business Activities and the Law 2021 and 2022”, which monitors the efforts of governments around the world regarding the development of laws and legislation aimed at protecting Empowering women economically within 8 axes, achieving a qualitative leap to reach 82.5 points in the overall index with a full score (100 points) in 5 axes: freedom of movement, workplaces, wages, entrepreneurship, and pension. It achieved first place in the Arab world in the Gender Gap Report 2021 issued by the World Economic Forum, and ranked first in the world in 4 sub-indicators within this important international report: the parliamentary representation of women, the literacy rate, the gender ratio at birth, and the enrollment rate Girls in primary education.
The UAE topped the world in the indicator of the percentage of female representation in parliament for the years 2020 and 2021 within the Global Competitiveness Report issued by the Institute for Administrative Development in Switzerland, and the Arab countries also topped the representation of women in decision-making positions and leadership and senior positions, according to the latest report on the participation of Arab women in decision-making positions. , issued in July 2021 by the Council on Foreign Relations, a non-governmental organization concerned with research and studies based in New York.
These achievements come as a continuation of its advancing ranks in many global indicators during the past few years, as the countries of the world topped the index of respect for women within the report of indicators of social development in the countries of the world, issued by the International Agenda Council of the World Economic Forum in 2014, and also achieved the first place Globally in 2017, in gender balance in property rights, according to the Prosperity Index report issued by the London-based Legatum Institute, and first in the world in gender balance in the literacy rate, according to the gender gap report issued by the World Economic Forum, and first in the world in the index The absence of a gender gap in secondary education enrollment under the age of 15, according to the Human Capital Report issued by the World Economic Forum.
forward vision
Her Highness Sheikha Manal bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum said that these successive achievements of the UAE in global indicators and reports reflect the international appreciation of its global stature, and come as an affirmation of its forward-looking vision and ambitions for the next fifty years to reach global leadership in various fields. The achievements were great efforts and qualitative projects that the Emirates Council for Gender Balance worked on with the support of the wise leadership of the state, which placed this file among the priorities of the national agenda. Cooperation and coordination among all state institutions contributed to its achievement, so that gender balance became an institutional culture and daily work approach in these institutions. In addition to the council’s success in building and strengthening fruitful global partnerships with countries and international organizations that have distinguished experiences in gender balance policies, it was keen to exchange experiences and knowledge with them and launch joint projects with tangible impact at the local and global levels, based on the UAE’s keenness to support international efforts aimed at consolidating Gender balance and promoting women’s economic, social and political participation and access to education For various services equally with man.
National efforts and collective action
Her Highness praised the intensive national efforts over the past five years, and the great collective work of a team that included representatives from the Emirates Council for Gender Balance, the Federal Center for Competitiveness and Statistics, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation and the Central Bank of the Emirates, noting that this team worked under the directives of the UAE government to study and review Laws and legislation related to gender balance and women’s economic empowerment, and the development of an organized action plan to study ways to develop it in cooperation with the concerned federal authorities, guided by national indicators and taking into account the best global practices. New laws and policies and legislative improvements have already been issued for more than 20 legal articles, including the areas of work, protection and participation. Political, personal status, the judiciary, wages, banking transactions, freedom of movement, marriage, entrepreneurship, property and pension, all of which enhance the status of women, guarantee and protect their rights, transform gender balance into institutional work, and raise the percentage of women’s representation in various sectors and fields, including leadership positions, decision-making centers and support Its important role in Political, economic and social development, a translation of the vision of the priorities and directives of our wise leadership and its affirmation that gender balance is one of the important axes of the next fifty years strategy.
Her Highness Sheikha Manal bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum explained that the most important new laws, legislative amendments and improvements that were issued in the past two years included:
First: In the field of work
Federal Decree Law No. 6 of 2020 amending some provisions of Federal Law No. 8 of 1980 regarding the regulation of labor relations, issued by His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the State, may God protect him, granting workers in the private sector a paid “parental leave” The wages to take care of his child, thus making the UAE the first Arab country to grant parental leave to workers in the private sector.
A Cabinet decision headed by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, in 2019 to equal salaries and wages for both sexes in government agencies, making the UAE the first country in the region to issue legislation of this kind.
Abolishing all restrictions imposed on women working at night and working in hard jobs such as mining, construction, manufacturing, energy, agriculture and transportation, to give women the right to work in these industries.
The labor law does not allow the employer to terminate the service of a working woman or warn her because of her pregnancy.
The Labor Organization Law prohibits discrimination between employees in obtaining jobs and promotion, and gender discrimination in jobs with the same job functions.
Second: In the field of political participation
The decision of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the State, may God protect him, in 2019 to raise the percentage of women’s representation in the Federal National Council to 50 percent.
Third: In the field of banking transactions
In 2019, the UAE Central Bank issued a circular to all banks and finance and exchange companies operating in the country regarding gender equality and non-discrimination in banking transactions and access to credit.
Fourth: Amending some articles in the Personal Status Law
Fifth: In the field of combating discrimination
His Highness the President of the State issued a federal decree-law in 2019 on combating discrimination and hatred prohibiting all forms of discrimination on the basis of sex.
Sixth: In the field of protection
The UAE has issued a domestic violence law that protects all individuals, male and female, without discrimination.
Issuance of a law that punishes with imprisonment and a fine or with one of the two penalties whoever exposes a woman in a way that offends her modesty by word or deed on a public road or a frequented place.
Seventh: In the field of the judiciary
Cabinet decision 2019 to represent women in the judiciary.
quality projects
Her Highness, President of the Emirates Council for Gender Balance, referred to a number of pioneering initiatives and projects launched by the Emirates Council for Gender Balance during the past five years to consolidate the concept of balance and transform it into an institutional culture, including the development and launch of the “Gender Balance Manual: Practical Steps for Institutions in the UAE.” , in cooperation with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, as the first guide of its kind in the world to support gender balance in public and private sector institutions. The development and launch of the Gender Balance Index for the UAE, in cooperation with the Prime Minister’s Office in the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs, based on the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, as this national indicator represented an important incentive for government and private agencies to implement gender-supportive policies and initiatives in The work environment, and the Council launched the “Global Balance Circles” initiative, as an inspiring platform to promote global dialogue on the best policies that support gender balance at all levels and accelerate work to achieve the fifth goal of the Sustainable Development Goals 2030 related to achieving balance and empowering all women and girls. This initiative has 5 global balance circles in New York and Washington (2017), Brussels (2018) and Dubai (within the work of the World Government Summit 2019), while the fifth global balance ring was held in March 2021 via the Internet on the sidelines of the meetings of the 65th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW65). )), of the United Nations Economic and Social Council under the title “Women’s Participation and Leadership: From Strategy to Practice”, and these seminars discussed many issues and the best policies SAT supports gender balance and women’s economic empowerment.
Her Highness said that as a result of the support that Emirati women receive from the leadership of the state and their efficiency and responsibility, the percentage of their representation in various sectors and in specialized fields such as engineering, space, information technology and banking has increased, in addition to an increase in the percentage of their participation in leadership positions and decision-making centers. Which is one of the main objectives of the Emirates Council for Gender Balance. The representation of women in the Federal National Council has increased to 50% of the number of members by a decision of His Highness the President of the State, may God protect him, and it is one of the highest rates in the world, and her representation in the UAE government is up to About 27.5% of the total number of ministers, which is also one of the highest ratios globally and regionally, and women currently represent about 30% of the workers in the diplomatic corps in the country, and occupy 24% of the members of the boards of directors of federal government agencies and 19.8% of the members of the boards of directors of chambers Trade and industry in the country.
The wife of His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, Her Highness Sheikha Manal bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairwoman of the Emirates Council for Gender Balance, announced that in the next few days, the UAE-inspired gender balance strategy will be launched. From the strategy of the next fifty years directed by His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the State, may God protect him, and announced by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, and His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, The Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, and in line with the state’s directions in the next phase to enhance its competitiveness and consolidate its position as a leading country in various fields.
Her Highness said that the Emirates Council for Gender Balance succeeded in translating its first strategy for the past five years and transforming its objectives into tangible achievements in line with the vision and directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum when the Council was established in 2015 to work on making the UAE one of the top 25 countries in the world with the UNDP Gender Equality Index in 2021, considering it the most important global indicator in this field and making the UAE a global model for balance and a reference for its legislation in the region.
Her Highness said that the UAE, thanks to the unlimited support provided by the wise leadership and Her Highness Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Chairwoman of the General Women’s Union, President of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood, and Supreme President of the Family Development Foundation, was able to achieve this goal ahead of schedule in the Gender Equality Index issued by the United Nations Program United Nations Development Program 2020, where it came in the 18th place globally and first in the Arab world, achieving a qualitative leap by an average of 31 places in this report within 5 years, as it was ranked 49th globally in 2015.
A jump in global indices
The UAE has also made qualitative leaps in its ranking in other global competitiveness indicators, as it ranked first in the Middle East and North Africa for two consecutive years in the World Bank report “Women, Business Activities and the Law 2021 and 2022”, which monitors the efforts of governments around the world regarding the development of laws and legislation aimed at protecting Empowering women economically within 8 axes, achieving a qualitative leap to reach 82.5 points in the overall index with a full score (100 points) in 5 axes: freedom of movement, workplaces, wages, entrepreneurship, and pension. It achieved first place in the Arab world in the Gender Gap Report 2021 issued by the World Economic Forum, and ranked first in the world in 4 sub-indicators within this important international report: the parliamentary representation of women, the literacy rate, the gender ratio at birth, and the enrollment rate Girls in primary education.
The UAE topped the world in the indicator of the percentage of female representation in parliament for the years 2020 and 2021 within the Global Competitiveness Report issued by the Institute for Administrative Development in Switzerland, and the Arab countries also topped the representation of women in decision-making positions and leadership and senior positions, according to the latest report on the participation of Arab women in decision-making positions. , issued in July 2021 by the Council on Foreign Relations, a non-governmental organization concerned with research and studies based in New York.
These achievements come as a continuation of its advancing ranks in many global indicators during the past few years, as the countries of the world topped the index of respect for women within the report of indicators of social development in the countries of the world, issued by the International Agenda Council of the World Economic Forum in 2014, and also achieved the first place Globally in 2017, in gender balance in property rights, according to the Prosperity Index report issued by the London-based Legatum Institute, and first in the world in gender balance in the literacy rate, according to the gender gap report issued by the World Economic Forum, and first in the world in the index The absence of a gender gap in secondary education enrollment under the age of 15, according to the Human Capital Report issued by the World Economic Forum.
forward vision
Her Highness Sheikha Manal bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum said that these successive achievements of the UAE in global indicators and reports reflect the international appreciation of its global stature, and come as an affirmation of its forward-looking vision and ambitions for the next fifty years to reach global leadership in various fields. The achievements were great efforts and qualitative projects that the Emirates Council for Gender Balance worked on with the support of the wise leadership of the state, which placed this file among the priorities of the national agenda. Cooperation and coordination among all state institutions contributed to its achievement, so that gender balance became an institutional culture and daily work approach in these institutions. In addition to the council’s success in building and strengthening fruitful global partnerships with countries and international organizations that have distinguished experiences in gender balance policies, it was keen to exchange experiences and knowledge with them and launch joint projects with tangible impact at the local and global levels, based on the UAE’s keenness to support international efforts aimed at consolidating Gender balance and promoting women’s economic, social and political participation and access to education For various services equally with man.
National efforts and collective action
Her Highness praised the intensive national efforts over the past five years, and the great collective work of a team that included representatives from the Emirates Council for Gender Balance, the Federal Center for Competitiveness and Statistics, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation and the Central Bank of the Emirates, noting that this team worked under the directives of the UAE government to study and review Laws and legislation related to gender balance and women’s economic empowerment, and the development of an organized action plan to study ways to develop it in cooperation with the concerned federal authorities, guided by national indicators and taking into account the best global practices. New laws and policies and legislative improvements have already been issued for more than 20 legal articles, including the areas of work, protection and participation. Political, personal status, the judiciary, wages, banking transactions, freedom of movement, marriage, entrepreneurship, property and pension, all of which enhance the status of women, guarantee and protect their rights, transform gender balance into institutional work, and raise the percentage of women’s representation in various sectors and fields, including leadership positions, decision-making centers and support Its important role in Political, economic and social development, a translation of the vision of the priorities and directives of our wise leadership and its affirmation that gender balance is one of the important axes of the next fifty years strategy.
Her Highness Sheikha Manal bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum explained that the most important new laws, legislative amendments and improvements that were issued in the past two years included:
First: In the field of work
Federal Decree Law No. 6 of 2020 amending some provisions of Federal Law No. 8 of 1980 regarding the regulation of labor relations, issued by His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the State, may God protect him, granting workers in the private sector a paid “parental leave” The wages to take care of his child, thus making the UAE the first Arab country to grant parental leave to workers in the private sector.
A Cabinet decision headed by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, in 2019 to equal salaries and wages for both sexes in government agencies, making the UAE the first country in the region to issue legislation of this kind.
Abolishing all restrictions imposed on women working at night and working in hard jobs such as mining, construction, manufacturing, energy, agriculture and transportation, to give women the right to work in these industries.
The labor law does not allow the employer to terminate the service of a working woman or warn her because of her pregnancy.
The Labor Organization Law prohibits discrimination between employees in obtaining jobs and promotion, and gender discrimination in jobs with the same job functions.
Second: In the field of political participation
The decision of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the State, may God protect him, in 2019 to raise the percentage of women’s representation in the Federal National Council to 50 percent.
Third: In the field of banking transactions
In 2019, the UAE Central Bank issued a circular to all banks and finance and exchange companies operating in the country regarding gender equality and non-discrimination in banking transactions and access to credit.
Fourth: Amending some articles in the Personal Status Law
Fifth: In the field of combating discrimination
His Highness the President of the State issued a federal decree-law in 2019 on combating discrimination and hatred prohibiting all forms of discrimination on the basis of sex.
Sixth: In the field of protection
The UAE has issued a domestic violence law that protects all individuals, male and female, without discrimination.
Issuance of a law that punishes with imprisonment and a fine or with one of the two penalties whoever exposes a woman in a way that offends her modesty by word or deed on a public road or a frequented place.
Seventh: In the field of the judiciary
Cabinet decision 2019 to represent women in the judiciary.
quality projects
Her Highness, President of the Emirates Council for Gender Balance, referred to a number of pioneering initiatives and projects launched by the Emirates Council for Gender Balance during the past five years to consolidate the concept of balance and transform it into an institutional culture, including the development and launch of the “Gender Balance Manual: Practical Steps for Institutions in the UAE.” , in cooperation with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, as the first guide of its kind in the world to support gender balance in public and private sector institutions. The development and launch of the Gender Balance Index for the UAE, in cooperation with the Prime Minister’s Office in the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs, based on the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, as this national indicator represented an important incentive for government and private agencies to implement gender-supportive policies and initiatives in The work environment, and the Council launched the “Global Balance Circles” initiative, as an inspiring platform to promote global dialogue on the best policies that support gender balance at all levels and accelerate work to achieve the fifth goal of the Sustainable Development Goals 2030 related to achieving balance and empowering all women and girls. This initiative has 5 global balance circles in New York and Washington (2017), Brussels (2018) and Dubai (within the work of the World Government Summit 2019), while the fifth global balance ring was held in March 2021 via the Internet on the sidelines of the meetings of the 65th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW65). )), of the United Nations Economic and Social Council under the title “Women’s Participation and Leadership: From Strategy to Practice”, and these seminars discussed many issues and the best policies SAT supports gender balance and women’s economic empowerment.
Her Highness said that as a result of the support that Emirati women receive from the leadership of the state and their efficiency and responsibility, the percentage of their representation in various sectors and in specialized fields such as engineering, space, information technology and banking has increased, in addition to an increase in the percentage of their participation in leadership positions and decision-making centers. Which is one of the main objectives of the Emirates Council for Gender Balance. The representation of women in the Federal National Council has increased to 50% of the number of members by a decision of His Highness the President of the State, may God protect him, and it is one of the highest rates in the world, and her representation in the UAE government is up to About 27.5% of the total number of ministers, which is also one of the highest ratios globally and regionally, and women currently represent about 30% of the workers in the diplomatic corps in the country, and occupy 24% of the members of the boards of directors of federal government agencies and 19.8% of the members of the boards of directors of chambers Trade and industry in the country.