Memoire Online - Développer et moderniser son pays par l'acceptation de la mondialisation touristique. L'exemple de Dubaà¯.

GDI as%ofHDI

Life expectancy at birth (years) 2004

Adult literacy rate

(% ages 15 and oIden 2004

Combined primary, secondary and tertiary gross enrolment ratio 2004

137 175 5

U rifted Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates

147.296i 1142.99rO1 4142.2%)

Latvia in n%)

T.19fi)

138

Sierra Leone (971%)

176 6

Tanzania Antigua and Barbuda

(United Republic oi) (102.9N c101.096)

Barbados [11 6296)

India (97.196) Solomon Islands 0 02.B%$1 Mongolia f100.9961 Estonia (i 16.196)

The gender empowerment measure (GEM) reveals whether women take an active part in economic and political life. It tracks the share of seats in podia ment held by women; of fema le legislators, senior officials and managers; and of female professional and technical workers - and the gender disparity in earned income, reflecting economic independence. Differing from the GDI, the GEM exposes inequality in opportunities in selected areas.

United Arab Emirates ranks 25¹" out of 1D4 countries in the GE l_rwith a value cf 0.691.

Much of the policy of empowerment has been orchestrated by Sheikha Fatima hint Mubarak. Cha irwoma n of the General Women's Union, Supreme Chairperson of the Family Development Foundation and President of the Arab Women Organisation_ In the year under review, Sheikha Fatima gave a number of interviews in which she outlined the achievements of women in the UAE and continued to stress the necessity of ongoing support for Arab women's rights, especially the social and political roles of women in the region.

'Under a wise leadership that believes invesrrng 1n people is afire most viable form ofirwves toren t we are confident that UAE women will continue to be successful. It is enough to say ?hat UAE women are no longer busy claiming their rights, bur exercising firem'

UAE women today participate in all institutions of government, including the executive, legislative and judicial components_ Four women sit at the Cabinet table, nine out of 40 members of the Federal National Council are women and a number of women judges and attorneys, as well as two women ambassadors, were appointed in the past year UAE women enjoy careers as pilots and engineers with national air carriers and in air defence and have also joined the UAE Armed Forces, police and customs_ In fact, UAE women now constitute 66 per cent of the public sector workforce, 30 per cent of whom are in senior posts. Women also make up 15 per cent of the teaching staff at the UAE University and hold 60 per cent of the jobs in professions such as medicine, teaching, pharmacy and nursing.

Despite a relatively low representation overall in the prorate sector UAE national women are doing well in business and the 12,000 members of the Businesswomen Council run 11,000 investment projects worth Dh125 billion_ UAE national women also represent 375 per cent of the workforce in the banking sector

During the year, gender equality in the UAE in areas such as education, health care and employment was a topic of discussion at the second Ministerial Conference of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) on the Advancement of Women, held in Guatemala City Dr Martha Al Shamsi, UAE Minister of State, pointed out that the percentage of girls enrolled in UAE elementary schools, at 83 per cent, is approaching parity with the enrolment of boys, whereas at higher levels, women comprise 70 per cent of the total number of university graduates, exceeding men, with a steady increase in the number of women holding Masters and PhD degrees.

The GWU has also been instrumental in helping to establish the Arab Women Organisation and has taken part in al I its conferences (see below). Since 1975 the GWU has also participated in all significant major international conferences on the development of women. In February 2007 the UAE was elected as a member of the Social Development Committee of the UN's Social and Economic Council. This clearly reflects the progress made by UAE women and their active partidpation in both regional and international arenas.

The second conference of the Arab Women Organisation (AWO), an inter-governmental body established under the umbrella of the League of Arab States, was held in Abu Dhabi in November 2008. Following the completion of its organisational structure, formulation of its general policy and creation of the executive mechanisms, the focus now is on achieving the goals of the AWO. These include empowering women and building their capacities as human beings and citizens to play an effective role in society, in the labour market, and in decision-making circles.

As Sheikha Fatima, who was chairperson of the AWO from 2007 to 21309, commented after following the conference:

will continue to work in consultation with my sisters, the First Ladies in the Organisation, to create a real qualitative shin in the mechanisms of work and the activities of the organisation... i will also be committed to tlreenhancementof the position of Arab women on the regional and international level, with the knowledge that we are an integral part of the world; we will be affected by the developments around us, we will interact with what goes on, will contribute to them with what we own from our wealth, culture andcrvrlrsation. in that arena, we will work to project the real image of the Arab woman!'

Recognising that the media plays a pivotal role in social development, changing media stereotypes of Arab women and their role and status in society is a key component of Sheikha Fatima's strategy Based on this commitment and in implementation of the recommendations made during the first Arab Women summit held in Cairo in 2C00, Abu Dhabi hosted the Women Media Forum in 2002 under the title 'Woman and Media: towards a promising media landscape' The Forum culminated in the promulgation of the Abu Dhabi Declaration on Women and Media, which provided a strong foundation forthe launch of the Women Media Strategy as well as the endorsement of the first media convention for Arab women.

;92 > rJ,4E20 r0 Right UM women enjoy careers aspilots and engineers with narbra orr carriers.

The Women Media Strategy contained recommendations for implementing three programmes that were formally launched under the umbrella of AWO during the second conference in Abu Dhabt namely the setting-up of a media agency for Arab women, a media monitoring project for Arab women and the media professions programme. The strategy aims, over an implementation period of six years, commencing in 2010, to create a positive media culture towards Arab women, thereby enhancing the role and status of women in society

also look forward to media that would reflect our nationalidentrt^-y embody our values, outhentici ty and civilisation as well as Arab and fvfuslim values of our society, avoid focusing on stereotypes of women but rather safeguard theft dignity, focus on efforts to make their achievements on all levels more visible removing obstacles that hamper the expansion of UA E womerfs participation and work in the media.'

Human security, Sheikha Fatima believes, is basically a universal issue but one where women can play a major role both in the peace movement and by helping to attain their own security. In her inaugural address made at the second meeting of the Supreme Council of the AWO, she declared: 'If the decision to go to war is made by men, then women can and should, become the makers of peace'. To confront this issue_r she believes, needs cooperation and coordination on a global level, through openness and positive dialogue among civilisations

Arab women are contributing to human security through a pioneering initiative that came in the form of the Women For Peace Conference which was held in 2002 in Sharm el-Sheikh with the participation of women's organisations from Arab and non-Arab countries and the UN. The aim was to promote the establishment of a global movement of women to play an active role in spreading the culture of peace.

Even before this conference, Sheikha Fatima had set up a special fund forwamen refugees, in cooperation and coordination with the MHO* and earmarked US$2 million to improve the lives of women refugees in war zones

The issue of security was discussed intently during the second AWO summit, and the conference urged the implementation of international conventions concerning the protection of women, which would contribute to alleviating the physical and psychological hardships that families experience in times of armed conflicts.

Sheikha Fatima launched the Network for Arab Women in the Diaspora (NAWD) during the first AWO conference in Bahrain in 2046 to help Arab women living abroad keep in touch with each other, and provide information for them, thereby relieving the isolation they face away from their home countries_ The NAWD also facilitates an exchange of views and enables Ara b women to connect with their Arab and Islamic culture.

The first phase of the initiative was launched in February 2007 The second phase, which got underway from March to October 2008, saw the collection of data from over 1044 distinguished Arab women academics and professionals in various countries around the world with a view to informing young Arab generations in the Arab world about their achievements. The third phase, which was inaugurated at the second AWO conference in Abu Dhabi in 2008, will run up to November 2010 and will involve direct communication with Arab migrant women_ The fourth and final phase will feature direct online dialogue_

Sheikha Fatima, participating in the fourth session of the supreme council of the AWO held at the First Ladies' level in Tunis, in June 2009, underlined the importance of the periodic sessions as they provide the opportunityto assess and evaluate results and plan for the future.

Sheikha Fatima stressed that a united approach among the First Lad ies ofthe Ara b world would be a significant factor in assisting Arab women to overcome obstacles that hamper their progress, adding that 'we have resolved to continue cooperation with leading Arab women at all levels to empower women to contribute effectively in sustainable growth'_ 'For Arab women to achieve progress and contribute effectively to the institutions of civil sodety, she continued, 'women must pursue education and keep abreast ci progress, while at the same time remaining true to their identity, national allegiance, religious teachings and cultural values' During the Tunis summit;, it was agreed to hold a symposium in 2010 at the United Nations and to issue a book about the second Arab Woman Conference held in Abu Dhabi. Another major milestone was the addition of Iraq to the membership, bringing the number of members to 15 countries. The organisation is looking forward to other Arab countries joining them to serve the cause of women

Développer et moderniser son pays par l'acceptation de la mondialisation touristique. L'exemple de Dubaà¯.

Annexe 30 : Photographies des îles artificielles.

Annexe 31 : La place de la femme dans l'Emirat de Dubaï.