Women in UAE Cabinet: Impact on Gender Equality Laws
This paper examines the role of women in the United Arab Emirates government and their influence on legislation related to gender equality and women's empowerment. It traces key milestones, including the 2017 cabinet reshuffle that elevated female representation and the 2021 decree mandating 50% female composition in the Federal National Council. The paper analyzes how female ministers have shaped policy across areas such as domestic violence law, education, entrepreneurship, and public diplomacy. It also considers limitations, including barriers faced by tribal women and the need to account for confounding variables when assessing legislative impact.
- Introduction: Women's Representation in the UAE Government: UAE decrees expand female government representation significantly
- Cabinet Restructuring and Legislative Impact: 2017 cabinet reshuffle boosts female ministers and laws
- Broader Contributions of Female Ministers: Female ministers drive change across multiple social sectors
- Challenges to Women's Political Participation: Tribal norms and barriers limit women's political progress
- Research Variables and Methodology Considerations: Variables and confounding factors in studying legislative impact
✍️ How to write this paper — guide, tools & examples ▾
What makes this paper effective
- Grounds its claims in specific policy milestones, such as the 2017 cabinet reshuffle and the 2021 FNC decree, giving the argument a clear empirical foundation.
- Balances positive developments with critical nuance, acknowledging that tribal structures and patriarchal norms can limit the real-world impact of formal representation gains.
- Incorporates a range of peer-reviewed and primary sources, including government portals, academic journals, and policy analyses, demonstrating source diversity.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper effectively uses causal reasoning, linking cabinet appointments to concrete legislative outcomes (e.g., domestic violence law proposals, women's workforce statistics) while also flagging confounding variables that might affect those outcomes. This moves the argument beyond simple correlation and toward more rigorous policy analysis.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with the macro policy context (FNC quotas and decrees), narrows to specific cabinet-level changes and their legislative effects, then broadens to survey women's contributions across social sectors. It pivots to a critical examination of barriers faced by tribal women before closing with a brief methodological note on independent and dependent variables — giving it a quasi-research-paper structure suitable for an undergraduate audience.
Introduction: Women's Representation in the UAE Government
The United Arab Emirates has made significant 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 favorable to women's rights and empowerment. For example, greater support is anticipated 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. Ultimately, the presence of women in high-level government positions is expected to have a positive impact on legislation pertaining to women's empowerment and to advance progress toward gender equality in the country.
Cabinet Restructuring and Legislative Impact
The UAE cabinet structure of 2017–2020 represents a radical reshuffle announced on 19 October 2017, by which three female ministers were appointed among a total of six. As of the 2017/2018 structure, this number rose to nine female ministers out of a total of 32 cabinet members (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 legislative impact. Salama (2018) reports 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).
Broader Contributions of Female Ministers
Female ministers have helped bring about wide-ranging changes in the UAE, from 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, drawing critical attention to the issue within the cabinet in order to advance referendums and legislation that would support greater equality among the sexes (Hesketh & Williams, 2021). They have also established themselves as leaders in public diplomacy strategies, facilitating change in the face of tradition (Williamson, 2022). Finally, they have called on social service institutions to do more to promote the empowerment of women in the UAE (Youssef, 2020).
Examples of resulting initiatives include Emirati Women's Day, numerous online services for women, social assistance support, housing, a focus on women's health, education assistance, socio-economic empowerment, and greater representation of 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). Her path has inspired others to step forward: by 2022, "women make up 66 per cent of the public sector workforce while 30 per cent of women are in leadership roles and 15 per cent are in technical and academic roles" (UAE Women, 2022).
References
Abdelrahim, Y. (2021). Understanding tribes and tribalism: The overlooked cultural uniqueness, measurement, and corruption of tribalism. Archway Publishing.
Abou-Shouk, M. A., Mannaa, M. T., & Elbaz, A. M. (2021). Women's empowerment and tourism development: A cross-country study. Tourism Management Perspectives, 37, 100782.
Al Khayyal, A. O., Alshurideh, M., Al Kurdi, B., & Salloum, S. A. (2020, October). Women empowerment in UAE: A systematic review. In International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Systems and Informatics (pp. 742–755). Springer, Cham.
Allagui, I., & Al-Najjar, A. (2018). From women empowerment to nation branding: A case study from the United Arab Emirates. International Journal of Communication, 12, 18.
Antwi-Boateng, O., & Alhashmi, A. A. (2022). The emergence of the United Arab Emirates as a global soft power: Current strategies and future challenges. Economic and Political Studies, 10(2), 208–227.
Hesketh, A., & Williams, J. B. (2021). Public policy on gender equality in the United Arab Emirates: A critical appraisal. Available at SSRN 3798367.
Maitner, A. T., & Henry, P. J. (2018). Ambivalent sexism in the United Arab Emirates: Quantifying gender attitudes in a rapidly modernizing society. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 21(5), 831–843.
Salama, S. (2022). UAE cabinet passes slew of laws, policies for women empowerment. Retrieved from https://gulfnews.com/uae/government/uae-cabinet-passes-slew-of-laws-policies-for-women-empowerment-1.60747138
The UAE Cabinet. (2022). The official portal of the UAE government.
UAE Women. (2022). Retrieved from
Williamson, W. F. (2022). Claiming change and tradition in the United Arab Emirates: Women's empowerment as a public diplomacy strategy. Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, 1–11.
Youssef, E. (2020). Role of social service institutions on social empowerment of women at the United Arab Emirates: A field analysis study. Multicultural Education, 6(4), 99–111.
Always verify citation format against your institution’s current style guide requirements.