Women to make up 50% of UAE Federal National Council
Move to consolidate future endeavours of the nation, ensure full empowerment of Emirati women
The Presidential decree allocating 50% of the seats in the Federal National Council to women is a great leap forward in cementing the legislative and parliamentary role of women in our nation’s development.”
Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid
The representation of Emirati women in the Federal National Council (FNC) will more than double to 50 per cent following a directive by President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan to enable women to perform their parliamentary roles to the fullest.
The move will push the UAE into the top five countries in the world in terms of women’s representation in national assemblies.
The move to increase their participation to 50 per cent will consolidate the future orientations of the UAE and achieve full empowerment of Emirati women, His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, tweeted.
Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, also took to Twitter to congratulate Emirati women on raising their representation. “[Women] are partners and supporters of the process of building and development and a model of excellence,” he said.
The move follows a series of Cabinet decisions to empower
Emirati women and enhance their role in nation-building. Dr Amal Abdullah Al Qubaisi is the first Emirati woman to become Speaker of the Federal National Council, as well as the first to attain such a leading position in the the Middle East.
Representation of Emirati women in the Federal National Council will be raised to 50 per cent from the next legislative chapter, in keeping with directives of President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan to enable women to perform their parliamentary roles to the fullest.
This move will consolidate the future orientations of the UAE and achieve full empowerment of Emirati women, His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, VicePresident and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has tweeted.
His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, also took to Twitter to congratulate the Emirati women on raising their representation in the House, which, he said, is a leading step to enhance their role and contribution to national decision-making. “[Women] are partners and supporters of the process of building and development and a model in excellence,” Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed said.
Historic step
Next year, the UAE is set to hold parliamentary elections after the end of the current legislative chapter by the end of June.
Shaikh Khalifa decreed doubling the current percentage of women’s representation in the Federal National Council to 50 per cent from 22.5 per cent as of the next parliamentary session to put the UAE among the elite nations in the world in terms of women’s parliamentary representation. Thus, in a record time, Emirati women will achieve what their counterparts in the world have taken decades to achieve, according to WAM.
The move comes against the backdrop of a series of the cabinet’s legislative policies and initiatives to empower Emirati women and enhance their role in nation-building.
Approved in a special session chaired by Shaikh Mohammad, the policies will seek to include more women’s participation in the UAE’s judicial system as well as other leadership positions in business.
“Today, we have adopted a well-rounded package of new policies and legislation favouring Emirati women’s empowerment and leadership,” said Shaikh Mohammad in the session held at the General Women’s Union headquarters in Abu Dhabi.
“Women constitute over half of society; they build the foundations of our renaissance whether in education, medicine or engineering. We must, therefore, enhance their dynamic role in both the UAE and global communities, across multiple sectors.”
Emirati women have received the full support of the ■ wise leadership since the establishment of the Union on December 2, 1971 as Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan was keen to support women and enable them to occupy the highest positions.
This vision is rooted in the approach and methodology of Shaikh Khalifa, who supported Emirati women by launching the “Empowerment
Programme” in 2005, the first such policy to be adopted by the FNC.
Azza Sulaiman, FNC member from Dubai, said this historic step is yet another fruit of the political empowerment programme launched by Shaikh Khalifa in his speech on the 34th National Day. “The Emirati woman assumed, in a record time, the presidency of the Federal National Council,
just 10 years after her election as a member of the House, while in some of the oldest parliamentary experiences, women took 70 years to reach the dome of parliament,” she said.
Shaikha Al Arri, the second woman to be elected to the FNC, said: “Our visionary leadership supports women and believes that for a society to be productive, it has to utilise the talents ■
and capabilities of women who represent around half of the UAE population,” Al Arri said.
Naema Al Sharhan, the third woman to win FNC membership, said: “There is no better place than the UAE for inspiring women and the UAE has achieved tremendous gains for women. It has encouraged women to break down boundaries.”
Her Highness
Shaikha 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), has praised the directives of President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, to increase Emirati women’s representation in the Federal National Council, FNC, to 50 per cent in the coming parliamentary term.
Shaikha Fatima said, ‘’We feel happy on the directives of the wise leadership which is always working for the progress and development of the country in all domains. The prudent leadership continues tracing the legacy of the Founding Father, Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who supported women since the establishment of the country and called on them to take part in the development march of the country.
“Now, the wish of Shaikh Zayed has come true after empowering the Emirati women as they played their prime role in all fields as an effective contributor along with men.”
She also emphasised that the directives of Shaikh Khalifa have made the UAE an international role model in women’s representation in the world’s parliaments and even surpassed them given the wise leadership’s belief in their national role in all fields.
of government staff in the UAE are Emirati women
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