Participation

One of the founding principles of the United Arab Emirates is the full, meaningful and continually improving participation of women in every aspect of our society. In recognition of that core belief, the United Arab Emirates foreign policy strategy now includes women’s empowerment and protection as priority themes. In recognition of the key role that UN-Women plays in advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment, the United Arab Emirates and UN-Women opened a UN-Women Liaison Office in Abu Dhabi just last week. The Office will enhance and strengthen collaboration to advance gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls — a core part of any women and peace and security agenda in the region.

The United Arab Emirates is contributing to that research base by supporting the UN-Women global programme on women and peace and security in order to promote conflict resilient societies through prevention efforts that facilitate women’s participation, leadership and the protection of their rights. The global programme will further gender-sensitive research and data collection to reveal the drivers of extremist violence and the impacts of counter-terrorism strategies on women’s rights and women’s organizations.

First, we must bring women’s participation and leadership to the core of peace and security efforts. Women are transformative agents of change. By removing obstacles and incentivizing the effective participation of women in peace and security, we can strengthen the sustainability and inclusiveness of our peace and security efforts. That includes increasing the leadership of women at senior decision-making levels here at the United Nations. Secondly, we must prioritize the protection of women’s and girls’ rights during and after conflict. Thirdly, we must address the humanitarian crisis with the understanding that women are best placed to advise and lead on humanitarian responses.

The United Arab Emirates is committed to prioritizing gender equality and women’s empowerment in peace and security settings. We will continue to advocate for the full, effective, and meaningful participation of women in all aspects of leadership and decision-making, and working towards the full realization of the women and peace and security agenda.