The Council holds its first meeting for the year 2022

Influential projects for the "Emirates Gender Balance" locally and globally

Al-Marri, while chairing the meeting of the Emirates Council for Gender Balance.

From the source

The Emirates Council for Gender Balance held its first meeting for the year 2022, chaired by the Vice-President of the Council, Mona Ghanem Al-Marri, during which he was briefed on the achievements of the past period, and his new initiatives to enhance his distinguished participation in “Expo 2020 Dubai”, and his launch towards a new stage of achievements in support of the vision and directions of the state. By consolidating gender balance in all sectors of the country, and enhancing its competitiveness globally.

The meeting was attended by Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Khaled Abdullah Belhoul, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Economy Abdullah bin Ahmed Al Saleh, Assistant Minister of Cabinet Affairs for Strategic Affairs, Huda Al-Sayed Muhammad Al-Hashemi, Assistant Undersecretary for Legal Affairs of the Ministry of Justice, Sultan Rashid Bakhit Al-Matrooshi, and Undersecretary of the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation Assistant for Communication and International Relations, Abdullah Ali Rashid Al Nuaimi, Acting Director of the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Center, Hanan Mansour Ahli, and Shamsa Saleh, Secretary General of the Emirates Council for Gender Balance.

Al-Marri said that the council has worked during the past period on many projects affecting the issue of gender balance locally and globally, in order to achieve the vision and directives of the consort 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. , Chairwoman of the Emirates Council for Gender Balance, and Her Highness’s keenness to consolidate the approach of balance in the country and raise its position globally in this vital file. The evaluation of the files of the entities participating in the gender balance index at the level of the federal government has been completed, according to the measurement framework and approved standards. Honoring the personality, the initiative, and the winning entities over the next few years, pointing to the direction of the UAE government to implement the indicator at the level of local governments, after the positive results that have been achieved at the level of the federal government and the banking sector in the past years.

And she announced that an introductory workshop will be organized for representatives of the executive councils in the emirates of the country, next March, in cooperation with the Office of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, to introduce the indicator and implementation mechanisms, best practices and policies that support the unanimous type in the workplace, which contributes to achieving the best results, achieving a vision and directives. The rational leadership in this regard, especially after the qualitative achievements made by the country in the indicators of global competitiveness, which were issued by the countries of the region.

The Council also worked in cooperation with the Federal Center for Competitiveness and Statistics on a pioneering initiative of its kind for the private sector at the global level, where 17 major national and international institutions signed a voluntary pledge to accelerate the implementation of gender balance, especially in leadership positions and decision-making centers in the private sector, which also contributes to accelerating the implementation of gender balance. Achieving the fifth goal of the Sustainable Development Goals related to gender balance and the empowerment of all women and girls, and the initiative requires raising the percentage of women’s participation in leadership positions to 30% by 2025.

Al-Marri added that there are other major national and international institutions that will join this initiative and sign the pledge in the coming days, which reflects the keenness and commitment of the private sector to the state's vision, and to strengthen its efforts to establish gender balance, because of its great social and economic impacts.

global partnerships

During the meeting, the Secretary-General of the Emirates Council for Gender Balance, Shamsa Saleh, reviewed a number of projects that the council is currently working on, in cooperation with local and global partners, including the "best global practices" guide, which will be officially launched during the World Government Summit at the end of next March. It was developed in cooperation with the Global Council for the fifth goal of sustainable development and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and includes a set of enabling tools for women, the consolidation of gender balance at the global level, global legislative models and successful practical policies for how to include a gender perspective in governments, the private sector and across societies. The "Gender Balance Forum" will be organized, in cooperation with the World Bank, during the World Summit of Governments as well, noting that the Council participated during the last period in the first meeting of the Group of Twenty, which is chaired this year by the Republic of Indonesia, as part of a committeeEmpower, which highlighted the support of women in small and medium-sized companies, and the development of digital flexibility that supports women.

She added that the council will hold weekly individual workshops and a group workshop for companies that pledge to raise the percentage of women's representation in leadership positions in the private sector to discuss opportunities and challenges related to gender balance, and the best ways to enhance it in these institutions.

In turn, the Acting Director of the Federal Center for Competitiveness and Statistics, Hanan Mansour Ahli, reviewed the latest developments in gender balance indicators in global competitiveness reports, most notably the Gender Equality Index issued by the United Nations Development Program, in which the UAE ranked 18th globally and first in the Arab world in the 2020 edition, and a report “Women, Business Activities and the Law 2021” issued by the World Bank, in which it ranked first in the Middle East and North Africa, achieving a qualitative leap that reached 82.5 points in the overall index with a full score (100 points) in five axes: freedom of movement, Work, wages, entrepreneurship, and pension.

Mona Al Marri:

• «Introductory workshop for the executive councils to implement the gender balance indicator at the level of local governments».

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