Developing a culture of gender equality

According to the World Economic Forum’s most recent Gender Gap Report, which measures the equality between men and women in terms of access to education, political participation, economic opportunities and access to health care, the UAE has consistently achieved more for women than any other Arab country. Having served as a member of the Federal National Council and having headed Dubai Government’s TV channels, I can testify that the UAE has provided Emirati women with unprecedented support and opportunities unsurpassed by any in the modern Muslim and Arab World. This is not to say that we have closed the gender gap. The areas of personal status law, family law, citizenship law, inheritance and cultural gender perceptions still require serious thought and work.

As long as we have inequality we will never be able to close the gender gap. A gap that the UN cites as one of the three reasons that has made the Arab world so underdeveloped. It is important to note here that we should not equate gender equality with liberalism. If we close the gender gap it does not mean we are becoming less Islamic. We will always continue to respect and practice the central principles of our faith; closing the gender gap only means applying law in a manner that elevates woman to the state that Islam had always intended for her.

Today, as a nation, we have an ambitious and progressive national strategy that requires the participation of a truly exceptional generation of Emiratis, especially its women citizens. Emirati women are more educated than men, but we are still not as integrated in our economy or leadership positions. We are marrying later in life and we want to be mothers, while also being part of a productive work force. There is no high school or university course or degree that teaches women how to do all of this at the same time. To me, this is the essence of the gender gap challenge: We are undoubtedly providing education that helps prepare Emirati women for work, but we are not preparing our women for life. This is problematic because it ultimately must be women who advocate the cause of equality and this means being prepared to skilfully take on that responsibility and to lead through example.

Currently, our divorce rates are up and many of us are not marrying, giving way to the trend of spinsterhood, leading to relatively low birth rates that exacerbate the UAE’s demographic imbalance. Those of us with children are increasingly leaving our children at home, depending on strangers with foreign value systems and hardly any education to help raise our children. Globalisation and reliance on housemaids for child-rearing means a serious dilution of local culture, identity and morals. We are not feeling the full impact of these negative trends now because these are generational trends that require at least a generation to come to full fruition. We must keep in mind that a society’s belief systems and its people’s sense of national identity are among the pillars that hold up a society.

As we strive to understand how to close the gender gap, there are what I call ‘points of empowerment’ in a woman’s life. These points include culture, school, university, media, government, NGOs and most importantly — the home environment. These points can either contribute to closing, widening or stagnating the gender gap.

A woman’s sense of empowerment starts or is blocked from a very early age at home. Human beings are by-products of how they are raised and their free will. If we raise a female child from infancy to behave like a leader, a nurturer, a soldier and a compassionate human being, such roles will be natural to her because she has been prepared and trained spiritually, physically, emotionally and mentally for such roles. However, if we raise her to behave like a dependent human being, ultimately the ward of her male guardians, she will naturally be limited to such behaviour and to such a worldview.

Encouraging a culture of gender equality, motherhood, mandating child-friendly policies across our work force to ensure parents raise their children and providing women with a holistic framework to face life means we are not just building up our women, but our nation.

Who will provide such progressive policies for women’s rights and ensure they are being implemented? Today, across the UAE, there are several government-funded women’s organisations primarily in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. These organisations have undoubtedly contributed to the advancement of women’s rights. However, the lack of a central body leads to fragmentation of efforts, duplication of work and waste of Government resources. Given the reality of the gender gap and its wide-ranging implications for society, this warrants a need to consolidate efforts and resources on a federal level by establishing a ministry to oversee this area until gender gap no longer poses a challenge to society.

Najla Al Awadhi is a former member of the UAE Federal National Council. You can follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/@NajlaAlAwadhi