Women's Empowerment in the UAE

Women in UAE

The United Arab Emirates has made strides in recent years to promote women's empowerment, and this is reflected in the country's cabinet appointments. In February 2021, His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, decreed that 50% of the Federal National Council (FNC) would be composed of women. This was a significant increase from the 20% quota that had been in place since 2006. Moreover, Sheikh Khalifa also announced that women would hold half of the seats on the Federal Supreme Council (FSC), the highest legislative body in the country. These appointments are significant because they give women a strong voice in the Emirati government. It is expected that these changes will lead to more legislation that is favorable to women's rights and empowerment. For example, it is anticipated that there will be greater support for laws pertaining to pay equality and parental leave. Furthermore, these appointments send a clear message that the UAE values the contributions of its female citizens. In turn, this is likely to build support for further measures to empower women in the country. Ultimately, the presence of women in high-level positions within the UAE government is expected to have a positive impact on legislations pertaining to women's empowerment. Consequently, this is likely to lead to greater progress towards gender equality in the country.

The UAE cabinet structure 2017-2020 represents a radical reshuffle of the UAE Cabinet which was announced on 19 October 2017, by which three female ministers were appointed among total number of six, and as of the current structure (2017/2018) this number has raised to nine female ministers out of total 32 members of the cabinet (The UAE Cabinet, 2022). As Antwi-Boateng and Alhashmi (2022) point out, “the UAE has one of the highest ratios of women serving in the executive cabinet” (p. 209). Almost immediately, their presence was felt in terms of how they impacted legislation. Salama (2018) reports, for instance, that the new female-influenced Cabinet “approved a slew of legislations, policies and initiatives to enhance the leading role of women in our society, and raise the rates of their participation and representation in all areas, locally, regionally and internationally.” Moreover, as Sheikh Mohammad has noted, Her Highness Shaikha Fatima Bint Mubarak serves as a model for all Emirati women. In response, the Cabinet issued new legislation that included “a proposal to issue the Federal Law on Combating Domestic Violence, in compliance with the Cabinet’s decision to adopt mechanisms to implement the Human Rights Action Plan, which recommends the drafting of a law on domestic violence against women and children” (Salama, 2018).

Additionally, these women ministers have helped to bring about some changes in the UAE, from areas of women’s empowerment in the tourism industry (Abou-Shouk et al., 2021), to other areas of society such as entrepreneurship, education, management, and politics (Al Khayyal et al., 2020; Allagui & Al-Najjar, 2018). They have been at the forefront of the fight for gender equality in the UAE as well by drawing critical attention to this issue in the cabinet for the purposes of advancing referendums and legislations that would support greater equality among the sexes (Hesketh & Williams, 2021). They have also established themselves as leaders in public diplomacy strategies, facilitating changes in the face of tradition (Williamson, 2022). Finally, they have called for social service institutions to do more to promote the empowerment of women in the UAE (Youssef, 2020). Examples include Emirati Women’s Day, numerous online services for women, social assistance support, housing, focus on women’s health, education assistance, socio-economic empowerment, and more women in politics (UAE Women, 2022). For instance, “the Minister of State for Youth Affairs, Shamma bint Sohail Faris Al Mazrui was 22 years old when she took office in early 2016” (UAE Women, 2022). Thanks to her path, other women have begun to step up to follow: now, in 2022, “women make up 66 per cent of the public sector workforce while 30 per cent women are in leadership roles and 15 per cent are in technical and academic roles” (UAE Women, 2022).

 In the UAE, there has been some progress in recent years towards increasing women's political participation. For example, the introduction of quotas for female candidates in local elections has led to a significant increase in the number of women running for office. However, more needs to be done in terms of policy making and legislation to support women's political participation. One area that is particularly important is ensuring that tribal women are not just promoting greater patriarchal authority under the guise of women’s empowerment. Women still often face additional barriers such as a lack of education and social isolation, and in tribal societies there is still a strong patriarchal authority and focus on tribal honor (Maitner & Henry, 2018). Consequently, it is essential that more policies and legislation take into account the specific needs of women. But the question is whether women in cabinet in the UAE actually do this. Abdelrahim (2021) argues that tribal women in the UAE may not be able to succeed in this matter as some might hope.

For this review, the independent variables are the characteristics of the women themselves, such as their age, education, and experience. The dependent variables are the legislative outcomes that are being studied, such as the number of bills passed or the amount of funding approved for women's programs. However, it is important to control for any confounding factors that could influence the results. For example, if the majority of the women in the cabinet are from one political party, then this could skew the results. By carefully controlling for all relevant variables, one can ensure that one is getting an accurate picture of the impact of women in the UAE cabinet on legislation.

References

Abdelrahim, Y. (2021). Understanding Tribes and Tribalism: The Overlooked Cultural

Uniqueness, Measurement, and Corruption of Tribalism. Archway Publishing.