Mona Al-Hamoudi (Abu Dhabi)
The UAE celebrates International Women’s Day, which falls on March 8 of each year, amid a distinguished experience that achieved qualitative results in all fields, which contributed to drawing the world’s attention to it as a regional leader, and achieved advanced positions globally, making it a global model in empowerment. The UAE’s celebration of International Women’s Day comes as an occasion to emphasize what women have achieved in the UAE and their active role in the various stages of the progress march, as they had a clear imprint and a pioneering role that contributed to achieving comprehensive development and renaissance in various sectors.
International Women’s Day 2023 carries the slogan “Innovation and technology to achieve gender equality”, as the slogan is in line with the priority theme of the work of the 67th session of the Commission on the Status of Women: “Innovation, technological change and education in the digital age to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.”
The United Nations report indicates that living currently depends on close technical integration, from attending a course, contacting relatives, or conducting a bank transaction, to booking a medical appointment, however, 37% of women do not use the Internet. The number of women using the Internet is 259 million fewer than the number of men, although they represent nearly half of the world’s population. If women do not have access to the Internet and do not feel safe in it, then they are unable to develop the digital skills needed to participate in digital spaces, which reduces their chances of obtaining jobs in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. And by 2050, 75% of jobs will be related to STEM fields.
The report pointed out that today, women occupy, for example, only 22% of jobs in the field of artificial intelligence. The report emphasized that women’s involvement in technology leads to more creative solutions and greater potential for innovations that meet women’s needs and promote gender equality. By contrast, not including them comes at a high cost.
The United Nations celebration of International Women’s Day, under the theme “Engaging Everyone Digitally: Innovation and Technology to Achieve Gender Equality,” is intended to honor and celebrate women and girls who advocate for the advancement of transformative technology and digital education. The celebration reveals the impact of the gender digital divide on widening economic and social inequalities, and also highlights the importance of protecting the rights of women and girls in digital spaces, addressing online gender-based violence, and facilitating information and communication technology.
Emirati experience
The experience of women in the UAE is the best and most complete at the level of the Middle East and North African countries in the field of empowerment and gender balance, while the country occupies the 18th place in the world in the same field, where gender balance is a priority in the country’s strategy for the next fifty years, where the council works The UAE strives for gender balance to continue to lead the country in this field through advanced legislation and policies.
In view of the leadership of global indicators, the UAE confirms that it has reached the stage of reaping the fruits of the work of 50 years of empowering women, as hardly any international index or global classification is devoid of mentioning Emirati women at the forefront, which was confirmed by the “Women, Business and Law 2023” report issued About the World Bank, in which the UAE topped the countries of the Middle East and North Africa region for the third year in a row, with achieving the full mark in five main axes, which included: freedom of movement, workplaces, wages, entrepreneurship, and pension, out of the eight axes of the report.
The UAE continued to strengthen its presence at the top of global competitiveness indicators for women, achieving first place in the world in 9 indicators, including: the index of non-discrimination on the basis of sex at work, the index of the existence of legislation on harassment at work, the index of the existence of a domestic violence law, the index of the existence of paid paternity leave, and the index of the presence of paid paternity leave, and an indicator of having paid parental leave.
By leading global indicators, the UAE affirms its establishment of a global role model in the field of supporting women, and empowering them through the concerted efforts of various institutions in the country and following the directives of the wise leadership on the importance of enhancing women’s participation in various fields of work.
Women in the Emirates enjoy unlimited support from the wise leadership, and follow-up and care from Her Highness Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, President of the General Women’s Union, President of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood, and Supreme Chair of the Family Development Foundation, which provided all means of support for Emirati women at various levels. Her Highness’s support extended to women in various parts of the world, as Her Highness launched many initiatives to support women locally, regionally and globally.
There are many initiatives launched by Her Highness Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak at the local and external levels, as these initiatives had a great impact on all who reached her. Caring for Emirati women’s affairs comes at the forefront of Her Highness’s initiatives for women, as she took her hand and sought to advance her and obtain her rights in various areas of life. The progress achieved by Emirati women had an impact on consolidating the good reputation enjoyed by women in the UAE at the Arab and international levels, as many countries have taken the UAE as a global model in empowering women and obtaining their rights in all fields.
The success of Emirati women was based on the great confidence of the wise leadership in their abilities and competence, which is expressed in their representation in the UAE government among the total members of the Cabinet, which is one of the highest rates in the world, and their presence in Parliament, where the experience of Emirati women is among the best international experiences, especially since the law guarantees them access on half of the seats in the Federal National Council, which had a direct positive impact by ensuring women’s full and effective participation in the legislative and oversight power.
Emirati women also have a distinguished presence in the field of advanced sciences, including, for example, the nuclear energy sector and the space sector. Emirati women recorded a remarkable presence in various business sectors, including education, the health sector, the financial sector, banking and insurance.
Trafficking in Human Beings
Her Highness Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak took the initiative to strengthen the state’s strategy in combating human trafficking and reducing the suffering of victims of this type of crime, through her donation of a piece of land in Abu Dhabi on which a shelter for victims of human trafficking would be built. Her Highness also attaches great importance to women and children in areas of conflict and disaster, and seeks to adopt initiatives that preserve their dignity.
In 2000, Her Highness Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Honorary President of the Red Crescent Authority, announced a humanitarian initiative to establish a special fund to protect refugee women from the consequences of asylum and the resulting hardships, and she donated one million dirhams for the benefit of the fund. On April 4, 2001, Her Highness donated an additional one million dirhams on the sidelines of the UNHCR’s celebration of her tradition of the UNHCR’s golden emblem, which is granted to prominent figures in the world in the field of refugee relief and support for their humanitarian causes.
Her Highness directed that the fund be managed by the Red Crescent and the UNHCR, provided that the authority assumes administrative and financial responsibility, and that the UNHCR undertakes the task of selecting appropriate projects to meet the special needs that are not available to refugee women and children in various regions of the world.
The Emirates share their international women’s day
Her Highness Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Chairwoman of the General Women’s Union, President of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood, Supreme Chairwoman of the Family Development Foundation, “Mother of the Emirates”, believes in the important primary role of women as one of the pillars of the development vision that leads societies, and Arab women and all women in the world enjoy follow-up and care Her Highness’s efforts contribute to building their capabilities and developing their skills, which is evident through her directives and her keenness to strengthen international partnerships and strengthen global institutional frameworks, in addition to providing support to humanitarian and charitable organizations at the regional and global levels to contribute qualitatively to improving women’s lives as part of building Safe and stable communities.
In 2019, the Women, Peace and Security Program was launched, and the program was named “The Initiative of Her Highness Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak to Empower Women in Peace and Security” in appreciation of Her Highness’s belief in the effective ability of women to establish peace and security, and her constant endeavor to support women and overcome all the difficulties they face and extend them With everything it needs to be an essential and distinguished contributor, and to leave an influential imprint in spreading peace and achieving security, stability and development for its society and the world as a whole.
The “Women, Peace and Security” program is a pioneering training program based on a memorandum of understanding signed in 2018 between the Ministry of Defense, the General Women’s Union and UN Women under the auspices of Her Highness Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, President of the General Women’s Union, President of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood, Supreme President The Family Development Foundation, with the aim of building and developing women’s capabilities in the field of military work and the security and peace sectors. The initiative of Her Highness Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak to empower women in peace and security aims to enhance women’s participation in the security and peace sectors, increase the number of women qualified to work in the military sector, and establish networks to support them around the world. The initiative also contributes to achieving the strategic objectives of Security Council Resolution No. 1325, which emphasized the importance of women’s effective and equal participation as an active force in establishing peace and security, by focusing in particular on providing the necessary training for women cadres.
Within this initiative, Her Highness Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak directed the inauguration of the Fatima bint Mubarak Center for Women, Peace and Security in June 2021, affirming the role of the United Arab Emirates and its tireless efforts in supporting the active participation of women in all sectors, especially the peace and security sectors, and its keenness to build national and regional capacities. And globalism in the field of women, peace and security, contributing to creating an enabling environment for women, raising public awareness about gender and peacekeeping, as well as strengthening the role of decision-makers in the Arab region and the international community to build their capacities in the field of supporting women’s participation in peacebuilding operations and activities.
It is worth noting that the first session of the training program was launched in January 2019 with the participation of 134 Arab women from 7 countries, and after the success of the first session of the program, it was agreed between the UAE and UN Women to expand the scope of participation to include countries from Africa and Asia in an unprecedented initiative in History of the international organization. In January 2020, the second session began with the participation of 223 women from 11 African, Asian and Arab countries. 140 trainees participated in the training program for the third batch, bringing the total number of trainees within the Fatima Bint Mubarak Initiative for Women, Peace and Security to 497 trainees so far.
5 key principles of a gender balance strategy
The gender balance strategy in the UAE stems from the objectives of the next fifty-year plan, and is based on 5 main principles:
■ Balance and parity, as it aims to achieve equal opportunities and results between men and women on a permanent basis.
■ Focusing on the future, in the sense of preparing for challenges and turning them into opportunities, and what this means in terms of the availability of elements of innovation and sustainability.
■ Competitiveness, as it is interested in continuing the upward trajectory in the regional and global rankings.
■ Integration, where government agencies and the private sector were involved and cooperated with international organizations and institutions in the design and development of the strategy to ensure that a gender perspective is taken into account in all policy areas.
■ Best practices, applying the best available knowledge and data from a variety of sources as a basis for legislation, new policies, and legislative and legal improvements.
4 pillars and goals
The strategy of the Gender Balance Council includes 4 main pillars and objectives that are achieved through qualitative initiatives in various fields. These pillars and objectives are:
■ Economic participation, entrepreneurship, and financial inclusion: It aims to bridge the economic gap between the sexes by working to increase women’s participation and enhance their presence in the economy, the entrepreneurship sector, and the digital economy in particular, through initiatives and policies that promote women’s financial inclusion and link government economic practices with broader goals of balance. between the sexes.
■ Well-being and quality of life: in the sense of ensuring that all means of physical, psychological and preventive health support are gender-equivalent, and this is done by training and strengthening the capabilities of front-line professionals to take into account gender differences, respond to issues and needs of gender balance, and ensure the provision of the necessary resources and support for health women’s psychological well-being, including reforms in health insurance policy.
■ Protection: It aims to enhance social and legal protections for all women and prevent gender-based violence through awareness campaigns and legislation.
■ Global Leadership and Partnerships: The strategy aims to promote gender balance in the region and around the world by continuing to make efforts and build partnerships that enhance the UAE’s leadership position and its global influence in this file, support opportunities to accelerate the fifth goal of sustainable development goals, and promote social inclusion and economic development of women worldwide by developing policies to integrate gender balance considerations into global trade and foreign investment.
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