The UAE Gender Balance Council explores new projects and future strategy to enhance the UAE’s global standing

Mona Al Marri:

- As a project of the Global Council for Sustainable Development Goal 5 (Gender Equality), and in collaboration with the OECD, the Council is developing an international Toolkit on best practices in gender balance.

- Intensive cooperative efforts with the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, Ministry of Justice, the Central Bank, and the World Bank, to enhance the UAE’s performance in the World Bank’s ‘Women, Business and the Law’ index

The UAE Gender Balance Council held its second meeting of 2020, during which it reviewed updates on the Council’s future strategy, which is currently in development. The UAE Gender Balance Strategy has been inspired by the national strategy – 2020 Towards the next 50 -  announced by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister, and Ruler of Dubai, for the upcoming 50 years. The plan aims to establish the UAE among the world’s leading countries across all fields and sectors by the year 2071.

The meeting, chaired by Her Excellency Mona Al Mari, Vice President of the UAE Gender Balance Council, also discussed the Council’s efforts during the second quarter of the year, including how to strengthen gender balance through gender-responsive budgeting, an initiative undertaken in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance. Council members also reviewed the ‘Best Practices in Gender Balance Toolkit’, developed in collaboration with the Global Council for Sustainable Development Goal 5 (Gender Equality) and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The Council discussed specific policy reforms requiring collaboration across several ministries and federal agencies. Such reforms respond to indicators in the World Bank’s ‘Women, Business, and the Law’ index, which measures gender inequality in the law, particularly as it relates to women’s economic inclusion. H.E. Abdullah Nasser Lootah also discussed an agreement signed with the World Bank to receive consultation services on the legislative material required to improve the performance of the UAE in the 2021 edition of the ‘Women, Business and the Law’ index.

The meeting was attended by His Excellency Younis Haji Al Khouri, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Finance; His Excellency Abdullah Nasser Lootah, Director-General of the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority (FCSA); Her Excellency Noura Al Suwaidi, Director-General of the General Women's Union (GWU); His Excellency Dr. Abdul Rahman Al Awar, Director-General of the Federal Authority for Government Human Resources (FAHR); His Excellency Abdullah bin Ahmed Al Saleh, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Economy for Foreign Trade Affairs; Her Excellency Al Reem Abdullah Al Falasi, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood; Her Excellency Hessa Tahlak, Assistant Undersecretary of Social Development at the Ministry of Community Development (MOCD); Her Excellency Huda Al Hashimi, Head of Government Strategy and Innovation in the UAE Government; His Excellency Abdullah Hamdan Al Naqbi, Director of the Legal Affairs Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MOFAIC); and Shamsa Saleh, Secretary-General of the UAE Gender Balance Council.

During the meeting, H.E. Mona Al Marri praised the Council’s efforts in building global partnerships across organizations to develop the ‘Best Practices in Gender Balance Toolkit’. The toolkit will support countries in all stages of their gender equality journey to reform law and policy, and implement programming, that increases gender balance across all sectors. H.E. also commended the Council’s intensive cooperative efforts with the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, the Ministry of Justice, the Central Bank, and the World Bank, to enhance the UAE’s performance in the ‘Women, Business and the Law’ index through comprehensive legal review and reforms that will increase gender balance in the UAE across the economy and society.

Future strategy 

Council members also received updates on the most recent developments of the UAE Gender Balance Strategy, which is currently in development, and aligns with the National Strategy announced by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum for the upcoming 50 years. The UAE Gender Balance Strategy will focus on expanding the Council’s scope of work in a strategic and whole-of-government way, in order to establish the UAE as a global reference and model for best practices in the field of gender balance.