UAE to host UN Women's Liaison Office in Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi will host a grand ceremony on Tuesday, 18th October, to mark the opening of a Liaison Office of the United Nations (UN) Women Liaison Office for the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The liaison office will be the only one of its kind in the region and will be hosted by the General Women’s Union (GWU), which plays a fundamental role in empowering women in the UAE at all levels. Noura Al Suwaidi, Director-General of the GWU, said leaders of the UAE’s women movements and top UN officials including Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director of UN Women, would attend the event, which would be held under the patronage of H.H. Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Chairwoman of the General Women's Union, GWU, Supreme President of the Family Development Foundation, FDF, and Head of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood. ''All arrangements were in place to open the office as per the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the GWU and the UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women,'' she affirmed. Hind Al Owais, a senior advisor at the UN, said the liaison office would work to develop partnerships on women's policies and support GCC governments to implement national strategies for sustainable development. The new liaison office will focus strategically on partnership development in the area of policy advice and political advocacy with Gulf and Arab institutions. The office will also assist in advancing the status of women in the region, support national governments in the GCC and strengthen collaboration on gender-responsive implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, she added. As a founding member of the GCC, the UAE has positioned itself as forward looking country committed to gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. It is also a top contributor to UN Women from the Arab Region. A leader in the region on gender equality and women’s empowerment, in recent years, the UAE has developed several policies to support women’s economic empowerment and political participation at the national level. With headquarters in New York, liaison offices in Belgium, Denmark, Japan and now the UAE, and 89 country offices around the world, UN Women works to remove barriers to equal opportunities for women and girls and to ensure that laws and commitments on gender equality and women’s empowerment are fully implemented. – Emirates News Agency, WAM - http://www.wam.ae/en/news/emirates/1395301299549.html