Dubai: Active participation of UAE women in the next Federal National Council (FNC) elections is considered “a national duty that must be fulfilled by each and every woman seeking to positively contribute to the growth and prosperity of the UAE”, Shaikha Manal Bint Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, President of the UAE Gender Balance Council and the Dubai Women’s Establishment, said.
Shaikha Manal, who is the wife of Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, encouraged women to fulfil their potential as key contributors in nation-building.
“The FNC attaches great importance to women’s empowerment issues, enabling them to play an important role in serving the community, increasing their presence in various business sectors, legislative and executive institutions, and holding decision-making positions. This is the reason why we all hope that women’s participation in the current legislative session increases so as to support their role as active partners in political life,” Shaikha Manal said.
“Through their membership in the Federal National Council, UAE women succeeded in holding several leading positions such as the First Deputy Chairman of the Council, and presided over a number of permanent and interim committees,” she said. “They also played an influential role through their participation in regional and international conferences.”
Shaikha Manal also noted that the efforts made by the UAE over the past period to achieve gender balance have paid off. In this respect, the UAE ranked the first globally in Closing the Gender Gap in Educational Attainment - Higher Education. Regionally, it was the first in reducing the gender gap, according to the World Economic Forum’s Gender Gap Index, thereby indicating almost complete equality between genders in terms of educational attainment as well as provision of health-care services.
Dr Anwar Mohammad Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Minister of State for Federal National Council Affairs and Chairman of the National Election Committee, expressed his gratitude to Dubai Women’s Establishment.
He said Emirati women have played a major role and contributed to the success of the FNC’s electoral process. Hence, raising political awareness among UAE women, as well as enabling and encouraging them to play leadership roles and exercise their right to participate in the electoral process will always remain a common responsibility.
