UAE seeks to have a gender balanced society and economy

 

The UAE has served as an example of growth and development for women's empowerment in the Arab world while pursuing a gender-balanced economy and society. The country is unmistakably pursuing initiatives to close the gender pay gap, supporting the expansion of the UAE economy overall.

According to the World Economic Forum's 2021 Global Gender Gap report, the UAE is listed as one of the top nations in the area for gender equality. This success is a result of the fundamental conviction that men and women are partners in society on an equal footing. Women are taking on more leadership roles in business, politics, and the STEM disciplines thanks to a number of efforts from the public and private sectors. The UAE is placed 24th out of 170 nations and is ranked first in the area in the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security's 2021 WPS Index, demonstrating the country's advancements in women's inclusion, justice, and security.

The future benefits from the active participation of both the public and private sectors, as demonstrated by the recently announced partnership between the UAE Gender Balance Council and 17 international and local businesses under the banner of the Pledge to Accelerate Gender Balance in the UAE Private Sector. By 2025, signatories have voluntarily agreed to an objective of 30% female representation in senior and middle management positions.

To create and carry out the UAE's gender balance agenda, the UAE Gender Balance Council was founded in 2015. The Council's goals are to close the gender gap in all government sectors, raise the UAE's standing as a model for gender balancing laws, achieve gender parity in positions of decision-making, and improve the UAE's ranking in worldwide competitiveness surveys on gender equality. The Human Development Report 2020 from the UNDP put the nation first in the Arab world and 18 overall on the Gender Equality Index (GII). The UAE also came out on top in the Mena area in the World Bank's "Women, Business and the Law 2021" study, scoring 82.5 out of 100 on the overall rating.

In the UAE, women actively participate in the private sector in a variety of positions. In accordance with national legislation, they enjoy equal access to economic resources, including guaranteed equal income, as well as ownership and control over land and other types of property, financial services, inheritance, and natural resources. With 23 Emirati women included on the list of Forbes' 100 Most Powerful ArabBusinesswomen in 2020, the UAE has the largest representation of women.

In the UAE's private sector, women account for 10% of all business owners. Almost 23,000 Emirati businesswomen hold 15% of the board seats at chambers of commerce and industry across the country and are responsible for initiatives worth more than Dh50 billion. A requirement that listed firms have at least one woman on their board of directors was imposed by the UAE Security and Commodities Authority in 2021.

The UAE government's commitment to gender balance among its financial and economic entities, which play significant roles in economic and social development, is supported by the Ministry of Finance's (MOF) membership in the Gender Balance Council. The MOF's overarching strategy includes gender balance concepts. MoF actively promotes gender parity through the following channels: established an organisational grading system for federal government employees that is based on their performance and station rather than their gender; assisted in the creation of the UAE Gender Balance Council; allocated a Dh5 million annual budget for the Council; and provided Younis Haji Al Khouri, Undersecretary, MoF, with direct representation in the management of the Council.

The gender balance guide assists UAE organisations in creating gender sensitive environments that enable men and women to participate across all sectors by drawing on the international best practises, standards, and recommendations of Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member countries.

The guide includes five important action areas as a resource for gender balance in the region, including commitment and oversight, integrating gender into policies and programmes, encouraging gender sensitive engagement of staff, enhancing gender balance in leadership, and gender sensitive communication.

.@HHShkMohd honors the winners of the #UAE Gender Balance Index. Her Highness Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak is recognized for her efforts in supporting gender balance. pic.twitter.com/ZEJf0PfGae

— Dubai | دبي (@DubaiTrends) July 8, 2022

Organizations across the UAE have the chance to build a welcoming and inclusive workplace for everybody by successfully implementing the activities and recommendations outlined across these areas.

National Strategy for Wellbeing 2031

The strategy emphasises the UAE government's focus on the welfare of its citizens by a variety of strategic objectives and activities, with the goal of making the UAE a global leader in quality of life.

In order to complement Vision 2021 and the UAE Centennial 2071, the National Strategy for Wellbeing 2031 also intends to promote an integrated concept of wellbeing. It is based on a three-level national framework that includes the individual, society, and nation. It has 14 parts and 9 strategic goals, some of which are supporting healthy, active lifestyles, good mental health, and positive thinking in order to improve people's wellbeing. In order to draw more people to cities around the nation, the approach would put a special emphasis on fostering family ties and endeavour to improve the quality of life there.