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The recent opening of the United Nations (UN) Women Liaison Office for the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in Abu Dhabi ushers in a new era of cooperation between the international organisation and the six-member bloc, said Dr. Amal Abdullah Al Qubaisi, Speaker of the Federal National Council (FNC).
"Opening the new UN office was in recognition of the major role the UAE has played at the international level to achieve gender equality," she said, in a statement to Emirates News Agency (WAM).
The move also reflects the international community's respect for the UAE and the prestigious stature it has earned thanks to its respect for women and the insightful vision of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan for the role women play in society, noted Al Qubaisi, herself the first woman to head a parliament in the Arab region.
"In the near future, co-operation between the UAE and the UN will be furthered through the Abu Dhabi office, where the strategic focus will be put on developing partnerships in delivering advice on enhancing women's status in the region, backing the GCC governments and bolstering co-operation to promote gender equality by achieving the goals of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development," Al Qubaisi added.
H.H. Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Chairwoman of the General Women's Union, Supreme President of the Family Development Foundation, and Head of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood, takes a great interest in women's empowerment, she said.
Al Qubaisi noted that during the inauguration of the liaison office in Abu Dhabi, Sheikha Fatima stressed the key role that "the UN and its concerned bodies play for women in order to ensure the mainstreaming of gender equality and empowering women at international and national levels. We have reiterated more than once the UAE's support of the United Nations on issues of gender equality and women's rights and empowerment."
Figures show the extent of the leadership's support for women, Al Qubaisi said. "Four cabinet women ministers, and nine women are members of the FNC (22 per cent of the council's membership). Sixty-six per cent of government jobs, of which 30 per cent are senior decision-making positions, are occupied by women. Also, women account for 15 per cent of the UAE University's faculty, and 60 per cent of technical jobs in the pharmaceutical, education, medicine and nursing sectors. Women also joined the armed forces, police and the customs. The Emirates Businesswomen Council has 14,000 members who run 11,000 investment projects, valued at AED12.5 billion."
She also highlighted the support being extended to women by President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, who walk in the steps of the founding father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who considered men and women to be the country's real national wealth.
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