Mohammed bin Rashid: The UAE has come a long way in terms of supporting women

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, affirmed that the UAE has made great strides in the field of women's support, by activating decisions that reflected the appreciation of their role, and making sure to give them a full opportunity to participate in the process of building, developing and modernizing in various fields Based on the legacy of the founding fathers who gave women all the attention and care, and made protection of their rights and interests a strategic goal, for which the state enacted laws, and put in place the necessary legislative and regulatory frameworks to make the principle of partnership between men and women a real life practice, not just slogans of luxury P or plans will eventually lead to drawers.

This came during the attendance of His Highness the official opening of the World Women Forum - Dubai 2020, in the presence of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, and organized by the Dubai Women’s Foundation, under the slogan “the power of influence”, with the participation of high-ranking government officials, leaders of organizations and bodies International and international experts, and a large group of speakers with inspiring experiences within the largest gathering of its kind in the world, with a total number of participants approximately 3000 participants from across the region and the world.

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum said, through his page on Twitter: “Today witnessed the opening session of the World Women's Forum Dubai 2020, amid a large international presence of more than 3 thousand personalities from 87 countries .. We commend the Manal Bint Mohammed team for organizing this The global event, and we thank the endeavors of the Council for Gender Balance and the Dubai Women’s Foundation for providing a bright image of Emirati women and their potentials. One-third of the members of the government and half of the members of the Federal National Council are UAE girls, and 70% of our university graduates are women.

His Highness said: “We are proud of the achievements we have made in the file of supporting women, but we are looking for more and our goal is to top the countries of the world in this field ... Our confidence in the ability of women to contribute in an effective way to reach the UAE in the first ranks in all sectors is large, and we continue to Supporting and overcoming all obstacles hindering her path, and providing her with everything she needs to be always at the desired level of excellence .. Emirati women today occupy half of the seats in the Federal National Council, and we have many inspiring models in which women have proven their worth by what we provide them with opportunities and successes That women have made in our country make We are eager to share our experiences and successful experiences in supporting women with every country that has in its role a real added value that supports its aspirations for a better future. ”

On the other hand, 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, President of the Emirates Council for Gender Balance and President of the Dubai Women Foundation, expressed her happiness at the convening of the International Women Forum in Dubai For the second time, she said: “The world met today in the Emirates to discuss ways to advance the role of women .. We listened to creative ideas .. and many inspiring experiences presented by a group of women entrepreneurs and women models that enhance the confidence of the international community in the achievements that women can provide in various fields Work and Giving.

Her Highness made it clear that this great global gathering was an opportunity to present a glimpse of the successes of Emirati women, and the state of progress achieved by the UAE in the status of women's participation as a pillar of development, while Her Highness expressed her hope that the forum would be an opportunity to discover more opportunities International cooperation, concerted efforts and coordination of programs and initiatives that give a wider space for women, to participate alongside men in achieving the desired progress for the world in all its courses, in order to enhance the ability of its peoples to overcome existing challenges, and to cross into opportunities with which peace, prosperity and progress can be achieved.

The official opening of the World Women Forum included an opening speech delivered by the President of the World Bank Group, David Malpas, during which he addressed the efforts of the World Bank in empowering women at the economic level, especially through the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative, which is based in the World Bank, and in which he praised the support The Emirates has one of the countries that participated in its establishment, followed by a dialogue session with the Director General of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, in which the journalist John Defterios of CNN interviewed her, and she touched on the global financial conditions, the future of development around the world, and Walt Thirat expected to spread corona virus in the global economy, and expectations of growth during the next phase, and developments relating to international trade and its impact on global growth indicators and economic conditions in a number of countries in the region.

Chancellor of the President of the United States of America, Ivanka Trump, during her speech at the official opening of the forum, praised the efforts of the UAE in the field of women's support, and its contribution to the success of the initiative of financing women entrepreneurs, which was a partner in its establishment, and played a major role in mobilizing financial support for them in order to maximize opportunities Women entrepreneurs, and confirm the chances of success of their projects.

She praised the UAE's accomplishments, the vision of its leadership in the field of supporting women and their economic empowerment, and removing all obstacles that prevent their participation in strengthening the economic future of the country, and supporting the comprehensive development process in it.

Ivanka Trump expressed her happiness at being in Dubai to participate in the work of the forum, as well as participating in the work of the second regional women entrepreneurship summit, which was established two years ago in Dubai, with the support of 14 countries, particularly the UAE, which expressed its sincere appreciation for its role in making the initiative a success. Which has succeeded until today in moving an estimated $ 2.6 billion at the regional level, by financing the government and private sectors, to invest in the projects of more than 100 thousand business leaders in developing countries.

She also paid tribute to the efforts of five Arab countries, which in recent years managed to bring about important legislative reforms that serve the interests of women and increase their level of empowerment, namely Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia, while praising the hundreds of women entrepreneurs participating in the summit.

In her speech, Ivanka Trump touched on the "Global Development and Prosperity of Women" initiative, which was launched by the White House last year, in the first effort led by the US government to enhance women's economic empowerment efforts worldwide, as the initiative is based on three main axes: providing training Women's career, enabling women to succeed as women entrepreneurs, and breaking down barriers to creating women's environments to fully participate in the economy.

"The initiative aims to reach 50 million women in the world by 2025, while the positive impact of the initiative in just one year, and since its launch last year, has reached about 12 million women in the world," she said.

She reviewed features of women's empowerment and achieving gender balance in the United States, after women represented only 25% of managers, while the number of women outnumbered the number of men in the American labor market last year, while the share of women in jobs New to about 70%.

The President of the World Bank Group, David Malpas, commended the UAE for the measures and measures that are being taken to improve the role of women and achieve an advanced level of gender balance as a role model for the region.

He noted the UAE's strong support for the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative, as one of the 14 founding countries of the initiative, which two years ago was able to obtain in Dubai its first financial support allocations.

He said that the initiative fund has allocated about $ 250 million, and is expected to support 114,000 female entrepreneurs in 50 countries, while their projects are expected to be subject to investments estimated at $ 2.6 billion from government and private funding sources.

On the situation in the Middle East and North Africa, Malpas expressed that the World Bank estimates that raising the level of women's participation and their share of employment opportunities in the region would boost their gross domestic product by about 47%, while the amount of money wasted in the region is estimated, due to the lack of balance Between men and women in laws and practices that would restrict women and not enable them to participate effectively in society, at about $ 575 billion.

He pointed out that women worldwide suffer from major obstacles in the field of self-employment, as only 1% of the total purchases of the private sector go to projects owned by women.

During the main panel discussion, which was singled out by the International Women's Forum - Dubai 2020, she directed the Director General of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva

Saluting the pride and appreciation of the UAE and its leadership, she said that what the UAE has achieved in the field of women's support is "impressive achievements", it increases the level of confidence that the era of women's empowerment has already begun in the Middle East region, while also praising the policy of diversification of the country's income sources. And it provides a role model in reducing dependence on oil resources.

Gurgiyeva stressed that empowering women and supporting their participation in society is capable of creating a strong push for the global economy, especially in light of expectations of slowing growth rates, as only about 40 countries in the world are expected to achieve 5% growth, while expectations for global economic growth revolve It is around 3.3%, while those expectations may be reduced in the coming stage by 0.1% to 0.2%.

She said that achieving a full gender balance of 100% would have a very strong impact on the global economy, estimated at adding $ 172 trillion to the world's total wealth, while the inclusion of women in the economic sphere in the MENA region would increase global productivity In general, adding an estimated one trillion dollars.

Al-Marri: We aspire to new partnerships to improve women's participation in various sectors

The proceedings of the official opening of the World Women Forum - Dubai 2020 started with a speech delivered by the Chairman of the Dubai Women’s Foundation and Managing Director, Mona Ghanem Al-Marri, during which she conveyed a welcome message from the campus of His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, Her Highness Sheikha Manal Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, President of the Emirates Council for Gender Balance, President of the Dubai Women’s Foundation, has wished for all participants in the Forum fruitful discussions that serve the strategic goals for which it was held, and new partnerships that enhance coordination of international efforts towards advancing the participation of women in various sectors, through Four themes raised by the Forum for discussion, namely the participation of women in the government, the economy and society and shaping the future.

Dubai and the UAE welcomed the forum’s participating guests from about 87 countries in the world, and said: “We are delighted that a group of thought leaders and influencers will meet at the Global Women's Forum 2020 to establish a constructive dialogue on supporting the role of women, achieving gender balance, and introducing the world With inspiring examples of women who have made qualitative achievements in various fields. ”

She added: “The slogan of this forum (the power of influence) was inspired by the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, towards the advancement of the status of women in all sectors and at all levels, as this vision embodied reality We are living today, and a tangible achievement, expressed by many milestones, on the path of success that we have gone through for many years, the most important of which is the establishment of the Emirates Council for Gender Balance and the establishment of the Dubai Women’s Foundation.

Al-Marri stressed the ability of the participants to make a real difference in the lives of women in the world, whether by proposing ideas or taking specific measures, such as reviewing regulatory frameworks, developing policies that raise the level of positive impact of women in our world, and increasing our impact to inspire families and societies, and even countries and nations In order to move in the same direction.

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One trillion dollars is the size of the gap caused by unequal opportunities for women to obtain financing and access to markets.

- The World Bank partners with UPS to support women's projects in the MENA region.