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Jihene Arfaoui Legal consultant and Journalist -Dubai
The United Arab Emirates believes that the economic
empowerment of women is a true supporter of the push
towards community development and the sustainability of
financial and cultural wealth.
The last fifty years have witnessed several enlightening
stations in terms of the rights acquired by women in the UAE
introduced by the UAE legislator in clear and direct legal
provisions and the agencies have prepared the way for them to
implement and enter them into force. Perhaps the most
prominent of these is the entry into force of the Decree on
Amending some provisions of Federal Law No. 8 of 1980 on
Regulating Labor Relations on February 2, 2022, which was
promulgated by the President of the United Arab Emirates,
Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The new amendment
stipulates equal pay for women and men in the private sector.
In the text of the Law, it was stated: "A woman shall be given
a remuneration equal to that of a man if she performs the same
work, or another of equal value."
This step came as a continuation of several steps towards
blurring the features of gender-based discrimination, notably
in the field of private work, which is an effective and
influential economic force in the United Arab Emirates, where
discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, religion,
national origin, social origin, or disability is prohibited, which
would undermine equal opportunities or prejudice equality in
obtaining or continuing in a job as well as in enjoying its
rights. Likewise, the employer is prohibited from
discriminating in jobs with the same job tasks.
The UAE Gender Balance Council
The UAE Gender Balance Council celebrates its seventh
anniversary. In February 2015, His Highness Sheikh
Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and
Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, announced
the establishment of the The UAE Gender Balance Council.
The Council is a federal entity chaired by the wife 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, President of the Dubai Women's Establishment. It
targets to reduce the gender gap in all sectors of the State, in
order to achieve equal opportunities for men and women to
participate in the sustainable development process, achieve
the State’s vision and locally, regionally and internationally
influence on discrimination and create the basis for gender
balance. The Emirates Council for Gender Balance seeks to:
Reducing the gender gap in all sectors of the State.
Enhancing the State;s position in the global
competitiveness reports in the field of the gender gap.
Seeking to achieve gender balance in decision-making
positions.
Classifying the United Arab Emirates globally as a role
model in the issue of gender balance.
Considering the UAE as a reference for gender balance
legislations
To promote these goals, the Council reviews current
legislations, policies and programs, proposes new or
updated legislation and programs to achieve gender
balance in the field of work, recommends the
enforcement of laws, regulations, decisions and
international agreements related to gender balance in the
field of work, in order to achieve non-discrimination
against women and coordination with the federal and
local authorities to fulfill the objectives of the Council.
It is worth noting that the diligent work of the UAE to reduce
the gap between genders in the private and public spheres and
its quest to achieve gender balance have contributed to the
UAE's ranking in international reports, as the UAE ranked
first in the Arab world in the Gender Gap Report 2021 (In
English) issued by the World Economic Forum, and ranked
first in the world in 4 sub-indicators within this Report:
. Parliamentary representation of women
. Gender ratio at birth
. Literacy rate
. Girls; enrollment rate in primary education
The UAE performance in the Report rose to rank 72 globally
in the general index of this global Report, advancing 48 places
in one year, as it was ranked 120 globally in the last edition.
The Report reveals that the UAE is the best globally in
representing women in parliament. Further, it has closed
71.6% of the gender equality gaps until the date of the Report,
as the percentage of parliamentary representation for Emirati
women today is 50% of the number of members of the
Federal National Council and their ministerial representation
in the State Government is 27.5%, which are higher than rates
in the world.
