According to 2016 data, the UAE supported programmes aimed at empowering women and girls around the world with over 14% of its overall foreign aid, a 47 % increase from the previous year. Vocational education and monetary help for female entrepreneurs in low- and middle-income countries are two examples of the UAE’s aid abroad for such ventures.

Other examples include funding for more than 100 projects in the area of women’s and children’s health. The UAE also served as the host country for important occasions like the Global Summit of Women Representatives in Parliament and the International Women’s Forum throughout its global advocacy initiatives.

Additionally, the United Nations Women’s Office in Abu Dhabi-UAE opened its doors in 2016. UAE additionally supported numerous NGOs and multilateral organisations that worked to advance women’s rights and gender equality. Examples include making financial donations to UN Women’s operating budget, supporting the “Every Woman, Every Child, Everywhere” project, and assisting regional non-profit organisations that empower women and girls.

Abu Dhabi Gender Balance Council

The United Arab Emirates Gender Balance Council (GBC), which was established in 2015, is tasked with creating and carrying out the country’s gender balance agenda. The Deputy PM and Minister of Presidential Affairs, H.H. Sheikh Mansour ibn Zayed Al Nahyan’s wife, H.H. Sheikha Manal ibn Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, serves as the Council’s head.

The Council seeks to solve chronic problems with gender gaps by promoting gender equality throughout UAE society, by making legislative contributions related to gender issues, and by suggesting ways to attain a proportionate representation of men and women in positions of decision-making.

Since its inception, the GBC has started ground-breaking programmes and initiatives with the goal of establishing the UAE as a role model for gender equality. The GBC’s work programme largely—if not entirely—serves to execute and advance the plans for development at the federal and local levels of the UAE as well as the gender-related goals of Agenda 2030, particularly SDG 5.

The release of the first-ever organization-specific guide for gender balance H.H. Sheikh Mohammed ibn Rashid Al Maktoum, VP and PM of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai, served as the patron for the publication of the “Gender Balance Guide: Steps for UAE Organizations.” The manual, which is the only one of its type for workplaces in the entire globe, serves as a reference for public and commercial organisations to overcome gender disparities in accordance with UAE’s Vision 2021 as well as the 2030 Agenda. Strengthening female engagement in society, especially in the economy, is one of the goals of the UAE’s Vision 2021.

The guide explains how companies can help achieve that goal by suggesting specific activities in accordance with global norms, UAE law, and national gender ratio indicators. By 2021, the UAE will rank among the top nations globally in the UNDP’s Gender Inequality Index thanks to these measures, which will help the GBC fulfil one of its main goals.