SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT - UAE Interact

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246 U N I T E D A R A B E M I R AT E S Y E A R B O O K 2 0 0 8Under the Constitution,women enjoy the samelegal status, claimto titles, access toeducation, health careand social welfareand the same rightto practice professionsas men.primary education has now reached 83 per cent and females form62 per cent of the total number of students in higher education,with a steady growth in the number of women with Masters andPhD degrees. As a result, 66 per cent of employees in the publicsector, including education, medicine, diplomacy and armed forces,are women, of which 30 per cent are in decision-making positions.The belief that women are entitled to take their place in societyand become effective partners in the development process isgrounded in the UAE Constitution, which guarantees the principlesof social justice for all, in accordance with the precepts of Islam.Under the Constitution, women enjoy the same legal status,claim to titles, access to education, health care and social welfareand the same right to practice professions as men.The guarantees enshrined in the Constitution have been carriedthrough into implementing legislation. Under the terms of theLabour Law, for example, discrimination between men andwomen in terms of equal pay for equal work is proscribed. TheCivil Service Law also allows for extensive maternity leave, andin 2005 civil service rules governing additional payments forchildren and housing were amended to eliminate any gender-baseddiscrimination against employees. New laws have also been issuedto allow divorced or widowed UAE women who were married tonon-citizens to pass on their citizenship to their children.The Government has also acceded to a number of internationalagreements specifically relating to women and children, includingthe Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of DiscriminationAgainst Women (CEDAW) and the UN Convention on the Rights ofthe Child.Over and beyond this legislative framework, the Governmentcontinues to make the necessary efforts to mainstream andpromote gender equality and justice in all government institutions,with special emphasis on schools and the media, and it continuesto work on removing social and psychological barriers that impedethe full integration of women into the labour force, especially in theprivate sector. Although great strides have been made, there is ageneral awareness that the journey has just begun.
S O C I A L D E V E L O P M E N T247At local level, Abu Dhabi Executive Council plans to establish adedicated body for the development of women’s policy acrossall departments and authorities in the Abu Dhabi government,in order to protect and advance the role of women throughoutsociety – in the workplace, in the family and in the community.The intention is to build on the existing strengths and good workof federal and emirate resources, including the General Women’sUnion and the Abu Dhabi Family Development Foundation.POLITICAL PARTICIPATIONAs already outlined in the Government section, 2007 was a trulyremarkable year in terms of political participation in the UAE.Since early 2006, two female ministers have sat at the Cabinettable with responsibility for the Ministry of Foreign Trade and theMinistry of Social Affairs and two others were appointed in 2008.However, it was the inclusion of 1189 women among the 6689people nominated to membership of the electoral colleges in eachof the seven emirates, these being empowered to elect half theseats to the 40-member parliamentary body, the FederalNational Council, the candidacy of 63 women in the subsequentelections, and the swearing-in of nine national women to the FNCthat broke new ground. The nine women hold 22.5 per cent of theseats in parliament, according the UAE the distinct honour of beingnot only unique in the region but one of the few countries in theworld with such a high percentage of female parliamentarians.THE GENERAL WOMEN’S UNIONThe General Women’s Union has been a key player in theGovernment’s strategy to create a supportive and empoweringenvironment for women. Originally entitled the UAE Women’sFederation, the GWU was established in 1975 under the leadershipof HH Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak with the aim of bringingtogether under one umbrella all the women’s societies in thecountry. In the intervening years, the government-funded GWUhas brought to the fore many inter-related issues of concern forwomen, children and the family, and it has been instrumental inWith nine womenholding 22.5 per centof the seats inparliament, the UAEis not only unique inthe region but alsoone of the fewcountries worldwidewith such a highpercentage of femaleparliamentarians.@www.uaeinteract.com/women
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SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT - UAE Interact

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