Reviewing areas of cooperation locally and internationally during the fourth meeting of 2022

Manal bint Mohammed: The year 2022 is a distinguished milestone in the march of the Emirates Council for Gender Balance

The wife of His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Presidential Court, Her Highness Sheikha Manal bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairperson of the Emirates Council for Gender Balance, confirmed that the year 2022 marked a distinguished station and a new start in the march of the Emirates Council for Gender Balance, as He witnessed qualitative achievements at the local and global levels.

Her Highness said that the UAE has strengthened its achievements in the field of gender balance in 2022 by advancing to the eleventh position in the world and the first in the Arab world in the gender equality index issued by the United Nations Development Programme, advancing 38 global positions within only 7 years of the establishment of the Emirates Council for Gender Balance in 2022. 2015, and for the second year in a row, it ranked first in the Middle East and North Africa region in the Women, Business and Law Report issued by the World Bank, and the Gender Gap Report issued by the World Economic Forum.

Her Highness Sheikha Manal bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum added that the Emirates Council for Gender Balance successfully participated in Expo 2020 Dubai by highlighting the successful Emirati experience in supporting women and gender balance over the past fifty years, in addition to strengthening its partnerships with many countries. The world and international organizations through many events and meetings that were organized throughout the duration of this important global event, whether in the pavilions of the participating countries or in the women's pavilion, which was held under the slogan "Humanity Prospers with Prosperity of Women", and the year 2022 witnessed the building of a qualitative partnership with the UAE private sector through "Pledge to Accelerate SDG 5" InitiativeHer Highness indicated that 56 national and international companies operating in various fields inside and outside the country have joined this voluntary initiative aimed at increasing the percentage of women's representation in leadership positions to 30% by 2025, and working to achieve gender balance in this vital sector, which represents a pillar Key to the progress and prosperity of the UAE, and the Council, in cooperation with the World Bank, established a regional center for exchanging knowledge and providing advice to help countries in the region bridge gender balance gaps.

The Emirates Council for Gender Balance held its fourth and final periodic meeting for the year 2022, chaired by Her Excellency Mona Ghanem Al Marri, Vice President of the Council, during which the topics on the meeting agenda were reviewed, which included the most prominent achievements of the last quarter of the current year, developments in the projects that the Council is currently working on, and the results of local and international partnerships. .

The meeting was attended by His Excellency Khalid Abdullah Belhoul, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, His Excellency Younis Haji Al Khoury, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Finance, His Excellency Abdullah bin Ahmed Al Saleh, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Economy, His Excellency Noura Khalifa Al Suwaidi, Secretary General of the General Women's Union, His Excellency Reem Abdullah Al Falasi, Secretary General of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood His Excellency Abdullah Ali Rashid Al Nuaimi, Assistant Undersecretary of the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation for Communication and International Relations, His Excellency Hessa Tahlak, Assistant Undersecretary of the Ministry of Community Development for Social Development Affairs, His Excellency Hanan Mansour Ahli, Director of the Federal Center for Competitiveness and Statistics, and His Excellency Shamsa Saleh, Secretary General of the Emirates Council for Gender Balance. 

Constructive partnerships

Her Excellency Mona Al-Marri said that the council implemented several initiatives and projects in the last quarter of 2022 within the framework of its work plan emanating from the gender balance strategy in the UAE 2022-2026, which was launched last March and aimed at achieving the country’s leadership and global influence and supporting the presence of women in Leadership positions and the economic sector, stressing the Council's keenness to build influential local and global partnerships to support gender balance in various sectors of the country and enhance the UAE's position in global competitiveness indicators, praising the efforts of the Federal Center for Competitiveness and Statistics in following up these reports, identifying strengths and bridging gaps.

She said that the voluntary initiative to pledge to achieve gender balance in the private sector, which was launched by the Private Sector Advisory Council on Sustainable Development Goals, in cooperation with the Emirates Council for Gender Balance and the National Committee for Sustainable Development Goals, received a great response from private sector institutions in the country, exceeding the target number of companies in the year. The first of its launch, estimated at 50 companies, is looking forward to more companies joining in the coming period, especially with the private sector always keen on sharing the vision and directions of the UAE government. The Emirates Council for Gender Balance initiative was also met by organizing workshops for local governments to introduce the framework for measuring the results of the gender balance index. In the local government work environment, with great interaction from local governments at the state level, confirming the intensification of cooperation with the Council to enhance the gains achieved at the level of the federal government in this vital file. So far, three workshops have been organized, the first of which was attended byOfficials and representatives of executive councils in all emirates of the country, the second with the participation of the Executive Council of the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, and the third with the participation of the Human Resources Department of the Fujairah Government and the Ajman Government Excellence Program of the Ajman Government, adding that these workshops will continue during the coming period for the rest of the local governments.

During the meeting, the members of the Council were briefed on the developments of the "Emirates Center for Gender Balance for Excellence and Knowledge Exchange", which was launched in cooperation with the World Bank as a regional center aimed at promoting gender balance in the Middle East and North Africa region, in addition to reviewing areas of cooperation with the World Economic Forum and the activities of the Council. During the next annual meeting of the forum, which will be held in the current month of January in Davos, Switzerland, with a focus on achieving balance in the advanced sciences sector.

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