By Andalib Akhter
The status of women in the UAE has been flourishing with the passage of time and now they are vital part of society and actively contributing to the growth and development of the country, said UAE ambassador to India Dr Ahmed Al Banna.
Interacting in a virtual program organised by the women’s wing of FICCI, FICCI-FLO, Dr Al Banna said that the UAE has adopted a powerful stance in empowering women, setting new standards based on a unique model drawn from the vision of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, founding father of the UAE. “This approach perpetuates in the current leadership’s vision for the future, whereby women stand as active partners and contributors in the country’s development process and play a vital role in raising future generations” , he said.
President, FICCI FLO, Ms. Ujjwala Singhania and others also participated in the discussion on issues related to Women Empowerment, Entrepreneurship.
Dr Albanna said that, that progress in the area of women’s rights is essential to building a contemporary society based on tolerance and inclusion.
Ambassador Albanan informed that, women in the diplomatic service and higher posts of government amount to 30 percent of the UAE’s civil service including diplomatic postings abroad and a total of 66 percent of the government sector is represented by women.
On literacy, he said, Female literacy rate of UAE is 97%. Emirate have 90% women who completed High school and out of that 76% are in higher education. 56% of graduates from Science, Technology and engineering are women.
Talking about Gender equality he added, Gender balance council of UAE is working on Gender equality in different areas like education, job in public or pvt sector. Gender balance council in collaboration with OECD is working on gender equality on international standard.
The UAE had the highest number of women on Forbes’ 100 Most Powerful Arab Businesswomen in 2020 with 23 Emirati women on the list.
UAE is also a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).
The meeting explored mutually beneficial synergies which could be formed between UAE and India in the realm of ‘Women Empowerment.’