UAE Gender Balance Council boosts work with IPU

Dubai: The UAE Gender Balance Council (GBC) on Monday discussed new avenues to enhance cooperation with the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the global organisation of national parliaments, to accelerate international efforts to achieve UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 5 related to the empowerment of girls and women across the world.

Mona Ghanem Al Marri, Vice President of the UAE Gender Balance Council and President of the Global Council for the 5th UN Sustainable Development Goal, met with Martin Chungong, Secretary-General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and Member of the Global Council for the 5th UN Sustainable Development Goal on Monday on the sidelines of the World Government Summit (WGS) 2023.

The meeting formed part of the UAE Gender Balance Council’s World Government Summit engagements and events being held under the patronage of Sheikha Manal bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, President of the UAE Gender Balance Council, President of the Dubai Women Establishment, and wife of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Presidential Court.

Global leaders, senior officials and representatives of international organisations at the forefront of advancing gender balance are participating in these engagements and events.

Commitment

During the meeting, both sides reiterated their commitment to intensifying international efforts to promote women’s empowerment, protecting women’s rights and enhancing women’s role as leaders in government sectors around the world.

The two parties agreed to develop a joint programme focused on advancing gender balance, with a particular focus on governments and parliaments.

Mona Al Marri said the support of Sheikha Manal bint Mohammed for the Global Council for the 5th UN Sustainable Development Goal reflects the UAE government’s commitment to supporting the UN efforts to accelerate its 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

Al Marri also expressed her appreciation for the cooperation and support of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, headed by Martin Chungong, for the initiatives and projects of the Global Council focused on advancing the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

Gender Balance Toolkit

One of the key achievements of the Global Council for the 5th UN Sustainable Development Goal in the 2018-2021 phase was the development of the ‘Global Advanced Practices for Gender Balance Toolkit’ that provides guidelines, global legislative models and practical policies for incorporating gender balance and advancing women’s empowerment in government, private sector and society.

The project was developed by the Global Council in cooperation with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

Al Marri said the IPUI has contributed significantly to building the institutional partnerships and strengthening the people-to-people ties necessary to advance gender balance globally.

Its comprehensive research studies have shed new light on establishing a strong gender balance culture among parliaments across the world.

The IPU continues to work to enhance the proportion of women’s representation in parliaments worldwide, which currently stands at 26.4%.

UAE ranks high in women empowerment

Martin Chungong expressed his appreciation for the UAE’s steadfast efforts to raise women’s empowerment and gender balance, which has led to the country obtaining high rankings in global gender balance indices.

The UAE leadership’s vision has empowered women to make significant contributions to social and economic development in the UAE, he said.

The two sides discussed opportunities to enhance cooperation to raise women’s participation in various spheres of life across the world and the possibility of benefiting from the ‘UAE Gender Balance Center for Excellence and Knowledge Exchange’ launched by the UAE Gender Balance Council last year in cooperation with the World Bank to promote the development of gender balance expertise in the region.

Workshop

The two organisations also agreed to organise a virtual global workshop to further discuss the projects of the Global Council and conduct a joint study on the positive impact of having more women in parliaments in the region.

The study will draw from the UAE’s successes in gender balance.

UAE: First in the world

Women comprise 50% of the UAE Federal National Council (FNC). The UAE was ranked first in the world in women’s representation in parliament in 2020 and 2021 by the Global Competitiveness Report issued by the International Institute for Management Development in Switzerland.

It was also placed first in women’s parliamentary representation by the Global Gender Gap Report issued by the World Economic Forum for 2021 and 2022.

At the World Government Summit 2023, the UAE Gender Balance Council is keen to strengthen its global partnerships as part of its efforts to raise the UAE’s status as a global leader in gender balance.

Opportunities

The Gender Balance Forum and the Women in Government Forum organised at the World Government Summit 2023 under the patronage of Sheikha Manal bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, brings together thought leaders from across the region and the world to discuss new opportunities to advance gender balance and the participation of women in government.

Both events feature a rich dialogue between global leaders, public and private sector officials, and representatives of international organisations with expertise in developing gender policies.