Fatima bint Mubarak affirms UAE's global leadership in women's empowerment

Al Etihad

17-07-2025

17 July 2025 19:43
ABU DHABI (WAM)Her Highness Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak 'The Mother of the Nation', Chairwoman of the General Women's Union (GWU), President of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood, and Supreme Chairwoman of the Family Development Foundation (FDF), affirmed that the United Arab Emirates, under its wise leadership, places the highest priority on women, based on the conviction that the partnership between women and men is a cornerstone of sustainable development and a key pillar for national progress and confidence in the future.In a statement marking the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development in New York, H.H. Sheikha Fatima said the UAE has made significant strides toward achieving Goal 5 of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which focuses on gender equality and women's empowerment.Her Highness highlighted the UAE's success in empowering women to play a pivotal role in decision-making and in all aspects of life—political, economic and social—making them integral to the nation's prosperity and a model of responsibility at both regional and global levels.H.H. Sheikha Fatima emphasised that empowering women has been a long-standing principle laid down by the UAE's Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who believed in the potential of Emirati women and encouraged them to contribute to the nation's progress. She recalled his words, 'I am a supporter of women... I always say this to affirm their right to work and fully participate in building their nation,' and 'Women are half of society.'She praised the achievements made under the leadership of President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, and Their Highnesses the Supreme Council Members and Rulers of the Emirates, along with His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Presidential Court.These efforts enabled the UAE to rank 13th globally and 1st regionally in the 2025 UNDP Gender Equality Index, score 82.5 out of 100 in the World Bank's 2024 Women, Business and the Law report, and place 1st regionally in the 2023/2024 Georgetown University Women, Peace and Security Index.Sheikha Fatima highlighted the UAE Constitution's guarantees of equality before the law, access to healthcare, education and employment. She pointed to the 2018 Cabinet approval of the first legislation on equal pay, including Federal Decree-Law No. 27 of 2018 on equal pay for men and women in the federal government, and Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 regulating labour relations in the private sector, which mandates equal pay for equal work or work of equal value.She noted the launch of the UAE National Strategy for Women Empowerment 2023–2031, which built on achievements in national development. Women now occupy 50 percent of the Federal National Council seats, placing the UAE among the top countries for gender-balanced parliamentary representation.Additionally, 26 percent of ministerial positions are held by women, who lead key portfolios including education, climate change, community development and family affairs. Emirati women also constitute 71 percent of UAE nationals in the public and private sectors, 63 percent of leadership roles in the federal government, and 13 percent of the country's ambassadors abroad.Sheikha Fatima also highlighted the role of Emirati women in entrepreneurship, noting that more than 25,000 Emirati women own over 50,000 commercial licences with investments exceeding AED60 billion.In the education and technology fields, she noted that 46 percent of STEM graduates in the UAE are women, and they make up 50 percent of the national workforce in the space sector. Women also account for 55 percent of the overall labour force.She stressed that the UAE's efforts to empower women have extended globally, through initiatives such as the Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Women, Peace and Security Initiative, which promotes women's contributions to peace and dialogue, and has trained over 500 women to date.She also referenced the Arab Women's Economic Empowerment Observatory, adopted at the 2023 Leaders' Summit to foster partnerships across the Arab world, and the Sheikha Fatima Initiative to Empower Rural Women in Africa in the agricultural sector.She expressed her pride in the contributions of national institutions like the General Women's Union, the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood, and the UAE Gender Balance Council, all of which support and empower women through impactful programmes that advance the Sustainable Development Goals.Her remarks coincide with the opening of the High-Level Political Forum in New York, held under the United Nations Economic and Social Council, under the theme "Advancing sustainable, inclusive, science‑ and evidence‑based solutions for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals for leaving no one behind'. The forum serves as the UN's primary platform to drive global efforts to meet the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.The UAE is participating in the forum with an official delegation presenting its pioneering national model for sustainable development, inclusive of all sectors of society. The delegation is also engaging in global knowledge exchange and collaboration with international bodies and UN agencies to support development initiatives worldwide.Reem bint Abdullah Al Falasi, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood and member of the UAE Gender Balance Council, stated that the forum includes voluntary national reviews by participating countries to assess and accelerate progress towards the 2030 Agenda. This year's focus is on Goals 3, 5, 8, 14 and 17.She noted that the UAE's participation reflects its long-standing commitment to sustainable development and its global application of successful national models. The forum also provides a platform to discuss the UAE's Vision 2045 for sustainable development, aligned with the country's forward-looking approach that builds bridges between today and the future for the benefit of people, communities and the planet—particularly in relation to Goal 5, gender equality.
The forum has served as the UN's principal platform for sustainable development since its establishment in 2012, playing a key role in reviewing country-level progress toward the 2030 Agenda.