UAE gives all its ‘gender balance’ awards … to men
- Social media users were quick to mock after Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, tweeted the awards announcement
- Despite the bad optics, the UAE is the highest ranked Gulf state for gender equality and second only to Israel in the wider Middle East
The United Arab Emirates drew mockery this weekend after announcing the winners of its gender balance awards – and every one of them was a man.
At an awards ceremony on Sunday, the UAE had named the winners of its Gender Balance Index for the second round of 2018 in three categories: “Best Personality Supporting Gender Balance”, “Best Federal Authority Supporting Gender Balance”, and the “Best Gender Balance Initiative”.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President of the United Arab Emirates and ruler of Dubai, gave out the awards, which were accepted by an all-male cast.
Lieutenant General Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, was awarded the first prize, while male representatives of the Ministry of Finance, the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority and the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation also received awards.
In a news release, Maktoum said that gender equality was in the spirit of the founding father of the Emirates: “The achievements of Emirati women today reaffirm the wise vision of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who believed in the importance of the role of women, and their right to work and become key partners in society.”