UAE Gender Balance Council hosts second Global Gender Circle with IMF

Mona Al Marri, Vice President of the UAE Gender Balance Council along with delegates. - Supplied photo

The UAE Gender Balance Council, in coordination with the Ministry of Finance, recently held the second edition in its series of Global Gender Circle sessions, in Washington D.C. The meeting was hosted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and focused on 'Gender Responsive Budgeting'.
Sheikha Manal bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, President of the UAE Gender Balance Council and wife of His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, said: "As part of the Global Gender Circles initiative that we launched in March this year, with the goal of accelerating the United Nations' (UN) Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5 - 'achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls', we were pleased to host the second edition of the series with the IMF. The aim of this meeting was to exchange expertise and opinions, and identify the best international standards and practices in implementing gender responsive budgeting, as well as the enabling factors which contribute to its effectiveness and success in narrowing the gender gap. We are proud to be working with the IMF, which has extensive experience in implementing gender responsive budgeting across a number of member countries."
Sheikha Manal added: "This initiative reflects our deep commitment to strengthening cooperation and partnerships with international organisations and entities that have specialist expertise in this field. It also fosters dialogue regarding the best international gender policies and practices, supporting the goals set out by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE, and Ruler of Dubai, Gender Balance Council at the time of its establishment. These objectives include narrowing the gender gap across all sectors, as well as establishing the UAE as one of the top countries for gender balance, and as a global leader in gender balance legislation."
She also highlighted the importance of continuing to drive the UAE's gender balance progress forward, and create environments that support the success of Emirati women in all fields and their contribution to sustainable social and economic development.
Chaired by Mona Al Marri, Vice President of the UAE Gender Balance Council, the second Global Gender Circle was attended by 15 IMF experts and consultants. Al Marri opened the meeting by welcoming all attendees, and highlighted the UAE Gender Balance Council's objectives through this initiative, to provide a platform for international thought leaders and experts to discuss gender balance-related matters and work towards closing the gender gap through innovative ideas and effective solutions that lead to positive change.
Women in the UAE today represent 46.6 per cent of the workforce and 66 per cent of public sector workers - 30 per cent of which are in leadership roles, 29 per cent are ministers and 20 per cent occupy seats in the Federal National Council. The UAE is also the first country in the Arab region to require a mandatory female presence in boardrooms, which was introduced in 2012. Additionally, around 23,000 women in the UAE own investments that are worth over Dh50 billion, while 10 per cent of private sector firms are run by women.
Al Marri explained that as part of the UAE Gender Balance Council's mandate, it is working towards the implementation of gender responsive budgeting on a federal level. The Council aims to address existing gender disparities, including senior management representation in both the public and private sectors, women's participation in parliament and across science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) sectors.
Zeine Zeidane, Assistant Director of the IMF's Strategy, Policy and Review Department, moderated the Circle, which explored various topics, including the findings of the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and IMF's global survey on gender budgeting initiatives during a session led by Dr. Lisa Kolovich, Economist at the IMF. Carolina Renteria, Division Chief of Public Financial Management at the IMF Fiscal Affairs Department delivered a presentation on gender budgeting as a public financial management framework in G7 countries, and Katherine Gifford from UN Women led a discussion focused on financing for gender equality and training.
Al Marri said: "The second Global Gender Circle provided a platform to explore successful global case studies and gain insights to help us establish the UAE as a role model for gender balance, regionally and internationally, through our collaboration with the IMF." - sandhya@khaleejtimes.com