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Landmark legal reforms include equal wages for women and men; repealing lenient punishment for honour killings.
The UAE will join the world celebrating the annual International Women’s Day (IWD) on March 8.
DON’T MISS: Women’s Day: Sheikh Mohammed issues special message
This year’s theme for the IWD, ‘Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a Covid-19 world’, celebrates the tremendous efforts by women and girls around the world in shaping a more equal future and recovery from the pandemic.
UAE laws, political empowerment
In 2019 and 2020, the UAE approved 11 new laws and legislative amendments to strengthen women’s rights and ensure their overall empowerment.
In terms of political participation, the President, His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, issued a resolution in 2019 to raise the representation of women in the Federal National Council (FNC) to 50 per cent during the 2019 elections.
The UAE issued Federal Decree-law No 6 of 2020, amending some provisions of the Federal Law No. 8 of 1980 to grant employees in the private sector a paid leave to care for the child. The UAE became the first Arab country to do so.
The country also issued the Decree of Federal Law No. 06 for 2020, stipulating equal wages for women and men in the private sector, if they perform the same work, or another of equal value.
The President also approved Federal Law-Decrees to amend the Penal Code. Based on the UAE’s commitment to protecting women’s rights, amendments to the Penal Code and Criminal Procedural law have repealed the article giving reduced (lenient) sentence in what is called “honour crimes”.
Women were among the key target categories in term of prevention and protection procedures adopted by the UAE. This was underscored by the implementation of remote working procedures for pregnant women and mothers of students up to the ninth grade.
Global drives
The UAE’s efforts are not limited to protecting women locally, it has also launched many initiatives around the world. The most notable are the women’s health telemedicine clinics of the Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Volunteering Programme. It is the first global telemedicine initiative that provides free diagnosis, treatment and prevention services for women.
Additionally, the UAE’s humanitarian aid to many countries prioritised women and children.
The UAE has a strong and growing relationship with UN Women, as it was a member of the executive board between 2013 and 2018. It assumed the presidency of the Executive Council of UN Women in 2017.
The UAE has provided the UN Women financial support amounting to about $26 million. This aimed to strengthen its efforts to empower women worldwide.
The UAE opened a liaison office for the UN Women in Abu Dhabi in 2016 in partnership with the General Women’s Union.
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