Gaps still remain before achieving gender balance: Mona Al Marri

She said while there are still challenges to be addressed, some countries are focusing on implementing equal wages and more job opportunities for women.

Achieving gender balance has become a global trend but the movement isn't happening quick enough. As such, it is the role of governments to define and redefine the role of women in the public spectrum.
That was the main message that came from the 'Achieving Gender Balance: from policies to impact', session at the World Government Summit 2019 on Monday.
Mona Al Marri, vice president of the UAE Gender Balance Council said while women today, in most countries, have more opportunities than ever before, gaps still remain.
"Today, 24 per cent of people represented in parliaments around the world are women. While that is a small number in comparison to male representation, it's an increase of more than 50 per cent, compared to just 11 per cent in 1995."
She said while there are still challenges to be addressed, some countries are focusing on implementing equal wages and more job opportunities for women.
"We should have the hope that there is good practice coming as a result of this discussion and fundamental changes are possible and are on the rise as a result of government legislation."
Touching on the announcement in 2018 by the UAE leadership that the Federal National Council (FNC) will have a 50/50 split of male and female representation by the end of 2019, it is a focus on political participation like that, which is important.
"We are witnessing this leap in women political participation in the UAE already."
According to the World Bank's latest report looking at women in business across the globe, "65 countries have implemented 87 reforms in boosting women participation" in the economy.
"A good model here in the UAE is that we have more than 23,000 businesswomen with an investment worth Dh50 million. We have many SMEs that support women and young entrepreneurs when it comes to education and how they generate funds for investment," she said.
Talking about the motto of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), 'better policies for better lives', Angel Gurria, secretary general of the OECD said "trend is irreversible, unstoppable", so the fact that gender balance is a hot topic is great.
"The question is how fast are countries going regarding successful implementation? We are very proud and congratulate the UAE in its drive towards more women being represented in parliament. However, many of these things are not happening naturally."
In the UAE, for instance, this 50/50 split in parliament had to be legislated, he said.
"In Germany, the drive for 30 per cent women working as boards of directors had to be legislated too. Sometimes we have to use legislation to force things which are not happening naturally. And often it doesn't happen without legislation in place because of cultural mindsets."
In the Middle East region, Gurria said there are still big gaps regarding gender balance, but, interestingly the majority of women here are in universities.
"That means when they graduate they cannot be incorporated successfully into the job market, and if they do there is a pay gap. We need policies to change this trend."
Both agreed that it is important to create an atmosphere where demand is "gender blind".
Going forward, Al Marri said three focus areas need to be taken into account.
One is the support of the government. If communities see the leadership supporting balance, this will send a clear message to people, but more precisely to women. It will break stereotypes.
"Two, is linking up with global enablers, like the OECD, the UN, the IMF. They drive the global gender balance agenda across the globe so it is important to have collaboration with these."
Thirdly, she said there is a need for more international reports focusing on gender balance and equality, which in turn set benchmarks.
kelly@khaleejtimes.com

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