H.H. Sheikha Manal bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, President of the UAE Gender Balance Council, President of Dubai Women Establishment, and wife of His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, congratulated the wise leadership and H.H. Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Chairwoman of the General Women’s Union (GWU), President of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood, and Supreme Chairwoman of the Family Development Foundation (FDF) and the “Mother of the Nation”, on the UAE’s achievement in ranking first regionally and twenty-fourth globally in the Women, Peace and Security Report 2021, issued by Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security in Washington, D.C. The UAE has ranked-up twenty positions since the last issue of the Biennial report.
The UAE has achieved a qualitative leap by climbing twenty positions in the report as a result of the wise leadership’s continuous support for gender balance and the legislative amendments that the Council worked on in cooperation with strategic partners.
The UAE’s future strategy places great importance on enhancing women’s participation in various fields, with a focus on supporting their economic, social and political role as well as their participation in security and peace sectors.
Sheikha Manal bint Mohammed said: “This latest global achievement is the result of the continuous support for gender balance by the wise leadership and H.H. Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, which builds on the country’s foundation and approach to supporting women for the past fifty years. The ranking is also the result of the legislative work of the UAE Gender Balance Council and its governmental partners on Personal Status, Labor Relations, Domestic Violence, Discrimination and Hatred, Social Security laws.”
She added: “This achievement reflects the priority of the gender balance subject in the vision and directives of our wise leadership, which focuses on enhancing women’s participation. The UAE has always placed great importance in supporting the economic, social and political roles of women as well as their participation in security and peace sectors.”
On the UAE Gender Balance Council’s efforts, she said: “The Council is keen on being a major player in achieving national visions and goals, through the continuous efforts of its cadres which includes national competencies of men and women in various sectors, by implementing pioneering initiatives and policies to promote equal opportunities between genders and increase representation of women in leadership positions across various sectors. The Council will soon be announcing its future strategic plan, which was being developed over the past period in cooperation with the Prime Minister’s Office and in coordination with many federal entities. The strategic plan focuses on exploring new horizons that shifts from the stage of bridging the gaps and to reviewing best practices that places the UAE among the global leaders in gender balance and enables it to position itself as a role model in this field.”
Source: Emirates News Agency