UAE Gender Balance Council attends UN Security Council, GCC meetings

The UAE Gender Balance Council participated in key meetings and sessions held at the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

These included a meeting of the UN Security Council and a session on women’s empowerment in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, jointly organised by the GCC and the UAE.

This active engagement of the Council support the worldwide initiative to accelerate the achievement of the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, with a particular focus on Goal 5, which is dedicated to empowering women and girls.

The UAE has been at the forefront of formulating and adopting these goals, demonstrating its commitment to promoting gender equality on both a local and global scale.

.@UAEGBC participates in UN Security Council and GCC meetings during the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women in New York. https://t.co/rZkT5axSfr #UAE pic.twitter.com/kpsuuK3f8D

— Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) March 15, 2024

Mona Al Marri, Vice President of the UAE Gender Balance Council, participated in the UN Security Council Arria-Formula meeting focused on strengthening cooperation between the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Women, Peace and Security Framework.

In her address, Al Marri emphasised the UAE’s strong commitment to leveraging the key principles of the international framework for women, peace, and security to ensure the protection of women's rights and foster their full, equal, and meaningful participation in both public and private sectors.

Further, she stressed the importance of creating a flexible and sustainable international framework for safeguarding and promoting women's rights globally.

The UAE Gender Balance Council also participated in a high-level session organised by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) under the title ‘Closing the Gap: Women's Empowerment in the GCC Region’, which focused on the progress achieved by countries in the region in the field of gender balance and women’s empowerment, as well as challenges and future trends.

Al Marri highlighted the Council’s major achievements and the key projects it has implemented since its establishment in 2015 to enhance gender balance in all sectors of the UAE.

She also outlined the Council’s efforts to develop principles and policies to prevent gender-based violence through digital applications, as well as a draft policy for gender balance in the Fourth Industrial Revolution era and a gender-responsive federal budget.