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The UAE Gender Balance Council takes part in The Gender Summit in Brussels |
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A delegation from the UAE Gender Balance Council took part in the 9th edition of The Gender Summit, which was held in the European Union’s (EU) headquarters in the Belgian capital, Brussels. The event shed light on the most significant policies and initiatives that support gender quality, particularly in the fields of technology, science, research and innovation, in accordance to global best practices. The UAE Gender Balance Council’s delegation was headed by HE Abdullah Lootah, Director-General of Federal Competitiveness Council and Member of UAE Gender Balance Council, and Shamsa Saleh, CEO of Dubai Women Establishment (DWE) CEO and Secretary-General of the UAE Gender Balance Council. The summit began with a session addressing the role of policies and legislations in promoting gender balance in the fields of science and technology. Participants provided their recommendations and suggestions to increase female participation in the areas of research, science, technology and innovation, and to close the gender gap in those areas. Case studies were presented for Canada, Scandinavian countries, South Africa and the EU. The second session focused on the gender gap in the health sector, and on the importance achieving equality when offering psychological health services, which affects a large number of women worldwide. Participants of the session discussed the importance of healthcare in the global context, in addition to highlighting that there was a clear unbalance between genders when receiving healthcare services. Discussions were also held on the importance of early disease prevention. Case studies were also presented to highlight imbalance between genders in receiving healthcare is some countries, which leads to the spreading of certain diseases which afflict women. HE Abdullah Lootah, Director-General of Emirates Competitiveness Council said: “The UAE has made significant achievements to promote gender balance in decision-making positions and to enhance female participation in the public sector. This has led us to become a pioneer in promoting gender equality at a global level.” He added: “The UAE Gender Balance Council is committed to its goal of promoting further gender balance and equality between males and females, and we are prioritizing our efforts to achieve this balance in all sectors. We are working on ensuring that there is a supportive and incentivizing environment for women in the workplace, and to include females in all different roles and sectors in the UAE.” HE Lootah went on to add: “Our participation in The Gender Summit in Brussels is essential in supporting our efforts and ensuring that we are moving in the right direction with regards to completely closing the gender gap. It also provides us with an opportunity to learn from the successes that other countries have had in this area.” HE Lootah, in his capacity as the head of the delegation, urged participants to apply successful concepts and practices that some countries have applied to enhance female representation in all sectors. Commenting on the UAE Gender Balance Council’s participation in the summit, Shamsa Saleh stated that the UAE was a leading country, at a global level, in issuing legislations that guaranteed equality for all people. She said: “We are working in a true partnership with the global community to enhance the position of females in all avenues and sectors. We are continuing to work on different initiatives to close the gender gap and to achieve gender balance in all fields and in all levels and positions, as we believe that women are crucial to the continued growth and sustainable prosperity of our country, and to leading our nation to a better future. Shamsa Saleh continued, “It is important to have a platform that allows different parties to share success stories in supporting women, to enable the creation of frameworks that help them in fulfilling their role as effective members of society. In order for us to achieve this goal, it is essential for us to promote, and enhance awareness, of the many significant achievements that women have made, in addition to adopting policies and initiatives that promote confidence among women.” The summit concluded with a number of critical resolutions, such as the importance of unifying health-related policies, and providing equal healthcare to all people. Other resolutions focused on the inclusion of women in the creation of policies and in the preparation of research and studies, in addition to increasing their participation in decision-making positions and in the technology sector, to achieve the ultimate goal of closing the gender gap. |
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