Women in UAE urged to ‘empower themselves’

Conservative opinions on women's place in the home and workplace and their ability to lead are changing, leading to a brighter future for women in work, forum hears.

DUBAI // Women have to show more confidence to shed conservative opinions about the gender’s ability to lead, a senior government official has said.

“Women are an important part of the society,” said Tariq Hilal Lootah, undersecretary of the Ministry of State for Federal National Council Affairs. “Women themselves have to empower women. They have to vote for women.”

He was speaking on Thursday on the sidelines of the National Culture Forum, which discussed the rights and duties of women during the union march of the UAE.

The event was part of the ministry’s efforts to increase political awareness among women and was organised by the Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities Department in Dubai and the Mohammed bin Rashid School of Government in Dubai to coincide with the 42nd National Day.

The forum had one female speaker among four in total.

Referring to the 2011 FNC elections, Mr Lootah said: “Fifty per cent of the voters in the electoral college are women but only one woman candidate was elected. If women supported women, they would have got more seats.”

Of the 85 female candidates, only Sheikha Eisa Ghanem, from Umm Al Quwain, won one of the 20 elected seats. Six other women were appointed by the Rulers.

This total of seven was lower than in the 2006 elections, when one candidate won and eight others were appointed.

Mr Lootah said women voters should be more trusting of female candidates.

“They [women] get influenced by men. Some feel men can represent women better. Some believe the role of women is in the house as a mother, sister or daughter,” he said.

These conservative views would change over time, he said, especially as women in the UAE enjoyed the same rights as their male counterparts.

“Women, in fact, have more rights. There is definitely no discrimination ... it needs time to change,” Mr Lootah said.

Dr Saeed Al Ghafli, assistant undersecretary for FNC Affairs, said Emirati women had a promising future in politics in the country.

“It is for the people if they want to elect more women, but women will have to organise themselves better,” he said.

“They have to increase their public participation, increase voluntary work and have to be more visible in society. But the future is bright for them in political participation.”

To boost women’s roles in different sectors, the Mohammed bin Rashid School of Government is launching a research project to look at women’s roles at home and in workplaces.

“We are looking at various angles, including maternity leave, attitudes towards education, work and families,” said Ghalia Gargani, acting director of the gender and public policy programme at the school.

“We want to see how women reconcile work and home. Women are outnumbering men in education, they are getting higher grades, but why are they not staying in the workplace?

“Many start and then drop out. Women in the UAE are encouraged to have more children but what are the systems in place to help them return to work?”

Mrs Gargani said the study, which is to be launched within the next two months, will take at least three years to complete.

It will look broadly at how career progression and family formation intersect in the lives of young men and women in the GCC, examine issues of work-life balance and women’s return to work, particularly in the UAE.

It will also explore family-friendly measures that the Government can adopt to address the demographic imbalance more effectively and look into policies related to maternity and paternity-leave laws, childcare services, delayed marriage and changing attitudes about family sizes.