UAE GBC expands partnership with global institutions

DUBAI: The UAE Gender Balance Council (UAE GBC) onthursdayhelddiscussionswiththewomen’sforum oftheparliamentaryassemblyofthemediterranean to explore ways to expand cooperation.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean is an international organisation that brings together parliaments from the Euro-mediterranean and Gulf regions to discuss common challenges.

This meeting was atended by Mona Ghanem Al Marri, Vice President of the UAE Gender Balance Council; Joanna Lima, President of the Women’s Forum of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean and Head of the Portuguese Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean;fatimazahraaabdi,vice-president of the Forum; Celine Cervi from the Secretariat of the Mediterranean Parliament; and Maryam Majid bin Thaniya, Member of the UAE Federal National Council and Vice President of the Parliamentary Women’s Forum of the Mediterranean Parliament.

The move to strengthen cooperation with the Women’s Forum of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean forms part of the UAE Gender Balance Council’s efforts to expand its partnerships with influential international gender balance institutions. The move also reflects the UAE leadership’s support for the Council’s objectives to enhance the role of women, preserve their gains in various fields, and promote gender balance regionally and globally.

The meeting was coordinated by the General Secretariat of the Federal National Council in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. A delegation from the Mediterranean Parliament is currently visiting the UAE to atend the meeting of the Women’s Forum of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean.

During the meeting, the visiting delegation was briefed about the Council’s mission to bridge the gender gap in various sectors in the UAE. The delegation was also briefed on the Council’s initiatives inspired by the vision of Her Highness Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak, Chairwoman of the General Women’s Union (GWU), President of the Supreme

Council for Motherhood and Childhood, and Supreme Chairwoman of the Family Development Foundation (FDF), and guided by the directives of Sheikha Manal Bint Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, President of the UAE Gender Balance Council, President of the Dubai Women Establishment, and the wife of Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Presidential Court, which have enabled the UAE to make rapid strides in the field of gender balance. The meeting also touched on the UAE Gender Balance Council’s recent selection by the World Economic Forum as a knowledge partner to advance gender balance globally.