Gulf women have a savings portfolio of $100b.
Out of this, $10b belongs to Emirati women who have used their constitutional right to work, social insurance, property ownership and managing their own businesses and finances it was revealed at The New Arab Woman Forum in Dubai on Sunday.
The two day forum on leadership and social responsibility, which is slated to become an annual affair, was officially opened at the Jumeirah Emirates Towers by HRH Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein, wife of HH Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and the ruler of Dubai.
The key note address was delivered to the audience of over 200 of the Arab world's most successful women by Mrs. Rajaa Al Gurg, President of the Dubai Business Women's Council and CEO of Al Gurg group.
She made it crystal clear that after decades of under representation in public and business life the Arab woman, but more specifically the woman of the Arabian Gulf, is slowly emerging as a force to be reckoned with in education, the workplace and in the social structure.
With 45,000 listed successful business women and 35 per cent of the overall population listed as employed the Gulf woman is slowly beginning to play an effective role.
Quality education, healthcare, social services and the right to equal pay for equal work, has also permitted Emirati women to play a larger role in both politics and business, Raja Al Gurg said.
25 per cent of the UAE Federal National Council are women, 10 per cent are in the Diplomatic Corps, 30 per cent are in leadership positions related to decision making and around 66 per cent work in the public sector, Al Gurg said.
There are 11,000 businesswomen listed in the UAE, of which 4.5 per cent are in liberal professions, 15 percent as directors and 30 per cent in small and medium enterprises.
The panellists listed to speak at the two day forum showed a broad representation of women from the GCC, North Africa and the Levant but guests at the forum in a particularly heated Q and A session criticized the organizers Al Iktissad Wal-Amal and Lebanon's century old Al Hasnaa women's magazine for bringing in women representatives of the various Arab governments and not enough members in opposition.
A heated bout also ensued when younger women in the audience objected to some representatives wearing the Niqab while espousing more rights and freedoms to all Arab women while another called it a personal attack and had nothing to do with the New Arab Woman.
Level heads eventually resolved the issue by reminding everyone that the biggest freedom was the freedom to choose.
The issues covered at the two day conference will include:
- Women in Public Affairs
- Women in Media and Communication
- Women and Education
- Motherhood: Same Fight, different weapons
- Women and Beauty
- Women and Money: Investing in social change
- Women in Business
