DUBAI, 27th November, 2024 (WAM) -- A group of experts at the third Global Women’s Forum Dubai 2024 said on Tuesday that it is important for policymakers and governments world over to look at gender equality from an integrated perspective and as part of their sustainable development action plans with six years to go for the Vision 2030 milestone of UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“A lot has been done and a lot more has to be done,” said Hanan Ahli, Managing Director of the UAE’s Federal Competitiveness & Statistics Centre, while giving an overview of the achievements the country has made in closing the gender parity gaps, at a session titled: “Six Years to 2030: What has been Achieved?”
“The UAE’s score in implementing SDG5 that concerns with gender equality and women empowerment now stands at 83 percent, which is a testimony to the UAE Government’s commitment to sustainable development and equal opportunity to its people irrespective of gender,” she said.
Other participants at the session included Prof. Eeva Furman, Secretary-General of the Finnish National Commission on Sustainable Development, Safaa El-Kogali, GCC Country Director, The World Bank, and Rania Tarazi, Gender Team Leader at the UNDP.
According to Rania Tarazi, there is a long way to go on the road to gender equality globally, with women facing inherent biases. “Women have not made much inroads in areas like STEM, new technology and energy transformation.”
The world has made impressive progress in the reduction of extreme poverty, with 80 million people benefiting, and along with it, many enrolling for education, though the COVID pandemic eroded some of the gains, said Safaa El-Kogali.
“We need to come together, and no one country can achieve this alone,” she said, adding that some of the critical needs of the hour are also to find sustainable finance leveraging the private sector for development.