63% of women-owned companies in the UAE witnessed a decrease in their sales due to "Corona"

The results of a joint “questionnaire” survey between the Nama Foundation for the Advancement of Women and UN Women to identify structural barriers that limit the effectiveness of female entrepreneurs in the UAE, in addition to the impact of the Corona crisis, revealed that 63% of companies The women-owned property in the UAE witnessed a decline in the percentage of sales, due to the repercussions of the "Corona" crisis, which led to a decrease in its revenues by 58%.

The survey indicated that some companies have taken measures to alleviate the consequences of the crisis, as 43.1% of them have transferred their services to electronic services, and 37.9% of them allow employees to work remotely.

The results of the questionnaire, which was announced through a virtual forum yesterday, with the participation of the director of the Nama Foundation for the Advancement of Women, Reem bin Karam, and the Executive Director of the Communication Office of the United Nations Women in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Dr. Moza Al Shehhi, showed that 41.2% of the companies are owned For women in the sample, they noted that the difficulty of accessing markets was the most prominent challenge that hindered their economic activity during the Corona pandemic, while 39% of companies confirmed that the main challenge that affected their business was the lack of access to the necessary financing, bearing in mind that 72 % Of the entities surveyed are micro-enterprises with less than five employees.

The survey, which included 1,000 female entrepreneurs and women-owned companies in the United Arab Emirates, is one of the fruits of the existing cooperation between the two entities, which began in 2018, to implement the major initiatives program "Stimulating Equal Opportunities for Female Entrepreneurs", affiliated to UN Women, which aims to: To promote women's economic empowerment through entrepreneurship, and to engage the public and private sectors in gender-sensitive procurement practices, in South Africa, the UAE and the region.

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Commenting on the results of the questionnaire, Reem Bin Karam, Director of the Nama Foundation for the Advancement of Women, said: “The survey allowed us to study the reality of women's economic activity in the Emirates, where we will work, based on the results, in cooperation with UN Women, to make more efforts to ensure the comprehensive and sustainable growth of pioneer women. Businesses in the country, through the implementation of the United Nations' main initiatives to stimulate equal opportunities for women entrepreneurs, after it was modified to suit their requirements.

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