Page 315 - Ministry of Economy

Page 315 - Ministry of Economy - December 2017

P. 315

12/26/2017 gulftoday.ae | VP honours winners of Gender Balance Index
International Cooperation, with a medal for the Best Personality for Supporting Gender Balance. He was
honoured in recognition for his strong support to women in the diplomatic sector, which has helped
numerous Emirati women achieve global success. Currently, women represent 20 percent of employees in
the diplomatic sector in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

He also honoured the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority (FCSA), as the Best Federal Entity
for Supporting Gender Balance. Reem Bint Ibrahim Al Hashimy, Minister of State for International
Cooperation and Chairwoman of the FCSA, received the ‘UAE Gender Balance Seal’.

The honouring of FCSA was based on three major criteria; decision-making, education and experience, and
a supportive environment for working mothers. Evaluation in this category was based on statistics from
the Federal Authority for Government Human Resources, FAHR, and polls conducted by a neutral party
among more than 64,000 employees in the federal government.

Evaluation in the third category of Best Initiative for Supporting Gender Balance was based on best
practices, projects, and policies and legislations established to support gender balance.

The UAE Securities and Commodities Authority, SCA, was honoured the Best Initiative for Supporting
Gender Balance for its ‘Women in Boards’ initiative, and Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy
and Chairman of the SCA Board of Directors, received the trophy. The authority aims to increase female
representation on the boards of public shareholding companies to 20 per cent by 2020.

Sheikha Manal Bint Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, President of the UAE Gender Balance Council and
wife of Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs,
expressed her gratitude to Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid for honouring the winners of the inaugural
Gender Balance Index. She said that this recognition from the leadership reflects the importance of gender
balance in the national agenda, and encourages all private and governmental entities to strive for further
progress in this field.

Sheikha Manal thanked the UAE Government for incorporating gender balance into the country’s national
indicators, which measure the performance of all organisations. This will support the UAE’s national goals
as well as the UAE Gender Balance Council’s vision to establish the country as a role model for gender
balance legislation in the region. She also highlighted the strategic partnership with the Prime Minister’s
Office to work on the results of the index by reviewing the initiatives and procedures of the federal
government organisations, and the policies they have adopted to support gender balance.

Mona Al Marri, Vice President of the UAE Gender Balance Council, said, "The UAE’s Gender Balance Index
is based on the highest national and global benchmarks that include the UAE Cabinet’s national indicators
and the United Nations Development Programme’s, UNDP, ‘Gender Inequality Index’."

The first category of the index recognises individuals who have played a key role in their organisation to
achieve gender balance, provide equal opportunities and establish an environment that supports both men
and women. It also honours individuals who have positively impacted gender balance locally, regionally
and internationally, and contributed to enhancing the UAE’s ranking in global competitiveness reports.
WAM

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