The UAE joins the world in celebrating "Women's Day"

Tomorrow, the UAE will participate in the world’s celebration of International Women's Day, which falls on March 8 of each year, while the occasion became an opportunity to celebrate the achievements made within a year.

And with the exceptional circumstances imposed by the spread of the new Corona virus "Covid 19" and coinciding with the launch of the United Nations celebration this year under the slogan "Women in the leadership ranks to achieve a future of equality in the world of Covid-19", in celebration of the tremendous efforts and contributions in facing this crisis.

Women played a pivotal role in addressing the repercussions of the emerging corona virus crisis from the beginning until now, continuing the process of giving inside and outside the home by performing the roles assigned to them in the various work sites with sincerity and dedication, and this role has emerged through their participation in the first lines of defense to address the pandemic, whether Through health, leadership, or volunteer cadres, to confirm their ability to perform tasks, no matter how old, with high efficiency.

On the preventive side, women were among the most prominent targets in all preventive and protection measures adopted by the UAE during its handling of the pandemic, which was evident through the activation of the remote work mechanism for pregnant women and those with children in the ninth grade and below, as well as the instructions and administrative procedures taken To preserve their rights and ensure their safety and security in the work environment.

The UAE’s role in protecting women during the pandemic has gone beyond the local side to launch towards the world through many initiatives, most notably the launch of the Fatima Bint Mubarak Volunteering Program, and the global virtual women's health clinics for telemedicine, as the first international virtual medicine initiative to provide free diagnostic, therapeutic and preventive services for women in various fields. Countries of the world, as well as the Emirati medical and humanitarian aid that reached all parts of the world, targeting primarily women and children.

Returning to the slogan of International Women's Day, he was chosen by the United Nations based on the main theme of the 65th session of the Commission on the Status of Women, “Women in public life and equal participation in decision-making.” In this context, the UAE is a pioneering global model as it occupies the first place regionally. And 18 globally in the United Nations Gender Equality Index, and it ranks first in the Middle East and North Africa in the World Bank report "Women, Business and Law" 2021, achieving the full score in five axes: freedom of movement, work, wages, entrepreneurship, and pension Retirement.

During the years 2019 and 2020, the UAE witnessed about 11 new laws and legislative amendments, all of which were focused on promoting women's rights and empowering them in all fields.

In the field of work, the UAE issued Federal Law No. 6 of 2020 amending some provisions of Federal Law No. 8 of 1980 regarding the regulation of labor relations, which stipulated equal wages for women with men in the private sector, and granted workers in the private sector a paid “parental leave”. To take care of his child, so that the UAE would be the first Arab country to grant parental leave to a worker in the private sector, and the UAE issued a decision in 2019 to equalize salaries and wages between the sexes in government agencies, making the UAE the first country in the region to issue such legislation.

The UAE law stipulates the abolition of all restrictions imposed on working women at night hours and working in heavy jobs such as the mining, construction, manufacturing, energy, agriculture and transportation sectors, to give women the right to work in these industries, and the law does not allow the employer to terminate the service of a working woman or warn her because of her pregnancy. The Work Organization Law also prohibits discrimination between employees in obtaining jobs and promotion, and it prohibits discrimination between the sexes in jobs with single job tasks.

In the field of political participation, the decision of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the State, was issued in 2019 to raise the percentage of women’s representation in the Federal National Council to 50 percent, which contributed to the attainment of Emirati women in the “Federal National Council Elections 2019” the height of the empowerment process. By reaching full parity with the man under the dome of Parliament, in one of the historical precedents worldwide.

The new laws and legislative amendments included new gains for women in the field of protection, as the UAE issued a law on domestic violence that protects all individuals, males and females without discrimination, and also issued a law that punishes with imprisonment and a fine or one of the two punishments for anyone who is exposed to a female in a way that violates her modesty, by word or deed, in a public way or Beaten place.

In 2020, the UAE introduced amendments to the Penal Code whereby the article that provides a mitigating excuse for so-called "honor crimes" was canceled, so that murder crimes are dealt with in accordance with the provisions in force in the Penal Code, confirming its commitment to protecting women's rights and strengthening the principle of the rule of law.

In the field of combating discrimination, the UAE issued in 2019 an anti-discrimination and hatred law prohibiting all forms of discrimination on the basis of gender, and in the same year the Central Bank of the UAE issued a circular to all banks and finance and exchange companies operating in the country regarding gender equality, non-discrimination in banking transactions and access to credit. The year 2019 also witnessed the issuance of a cabinet decision to represent women in the judiciary.

The UAE is at the forefront of advocating for women's rights at the global level through a series of initiatives and programs aimed at supporting and empowering women in many societies and countries, based on its pioneering local experience that has become the subject of regional and international praise and appreciation.

Since the establishment of the State Federation in 1971, the UAE has been keen to join international conventions dealing with women's issues and protecting their rights, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women in 2004, the Convention on Working Hours in Industry in 1982, and the International Convention on Labor Compulsory or compulsory labor in 1982, the International Convention on Labor Inspection in Industry and Trade in 1982, the International Convention on Night Work of Women in 1982, the International Convention on Equal Pay for Workers and Female Workers in 1996, and the International Convention on the Abolition of Forced Labor in 1996 And the International Convention on the Minimum Age for Admission to Employment, in 1996.

The UAE has a strong and growing relationship with UN Women, as it was a member of the agency’s executive council between 2013 and 2018, and assumed the chair of the UN Women’s Executive Board in 2017.

Since its inception in 2010, the UAE has provided financial support to the authority amounting to about 26 million US dollars with the aim of strengthening its efforts to empower women worldwide, making the country ranked first in the Arab world and tenth in the world.

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