Page 334 - Ministry of Economy - December 2017

12/26/2017 Startup MGZN – Concrete steps are taken at WEEGS to promote women’s leadership in economic growth, find out how
reason. These qualities are rooted in our culture with a small example being the 95,000

people who have come together from all over the world to make up our workforce. Through 
bringing our external suppliers into this ambit of diversity and inclusion, we have sourced
goods and services worth USD 2 billion from diverse and minority women-owned

businesses in the US and Canada. This number is growing. Why? Because our ndings
show that companies that run effective supply diversity programmes report increased
pro tability. Our internal data shows that women-owned and diverse suppliers actually

perform better than the average supplier base.”

The nal session of the two-day event was dedicated to the WEPs, and titled ‘Driving WEPs

Implementation: From Promise to Practice,’ it shed light on the fact that with 1,655
countries signed up to WEPs so far, the ball may be rolling, but there is a long way to go.

Dr. Enas Makkawi, Director of Women, Family and Children’s Department at the League of
Arab States said: “We have Japan and Turkey as our largest contributors but the gures are
peanuts compared to what they should be. From issues such as recruitment and fair pay to
encouraging suppliers to expand their operations to women-owned and managed
businesses, the pillars of WEP are not only workable, they are positively bene cial.

“The responses are simply that dealing with a gender-balanced workforce results in better
company performance.”

HE Abdullah Al Saleh Undersecretary, Ministry of Economy, UAE, was in attendance at the
closing ceremony and emphasized that gender equality is one of the biggest goals around

the world, especially when all sectors in the market are increasingly interdependent and
require diverse viewpoints and perspectives to enable innovation.

He said: “This is an international platform that furthers the vision and philosophy of the UAE
with regards to the empowerment of women. I would like to express deepest thanks on
behalf of the UAE Ministry of Economy to His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al

Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, for his patronage and
supporting women to reach the highest positions in society and economy.”

“Legislations will be the main aspect of developing women’s skills and enabling their
economic empowerment and bridging the gap between the two genders. UAE is trying every
day to set an example. A few months ago, the UAE launched an equality booklet for the
public sector, which will help companies to take the steps required to implement the highest
standards and best practices of bringing about equality in its true sense. We are aiming to

become the #1 country in gender balance internationally by 2021,” he added.

In her closing remarks, HE Reem BinKaram, Director of NAMA Women Advancement

Establishment, said: “After two days full of exciting experiences and discussions, we have
found effective ways to lead this drive that will change the reality of women in the world,

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