UAE first in MENA for gender equality, makes global gains in political empowerment
12 June 2025 23:03
ISIDORA CIRIC (ABU DHABI)The UAE has once again emerged as MENA's undisputed leader in gender equality, according to a recent report by the World Economic Forum (WEF). Globally, it claimed the 69th spot out of 148 countries, jumping five places from last year and outperforming several European economies like Italy, Greece, and Hungary.The WEF's Global Gender Gap Report, published on Wednesday, also positioned the UAE as third among the world's fastest-improving countries since the report's inaugural release in 2006. It is one of just four nations this year, alongside Mexico, Nicaragua, and Rwanda, to join the ranks of economies that have achieved full gender parity in parliamentary representation.A widely referenced tool for tracking the evolution of gender equality, the report focuses on four key areas: Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, and Political Empowerment. Each country's score reflects the percentage of the gender gap that has been closed, with 1 representing full parity (100%).The UAE's overall score reached 72.4% in 2025, putting it firmly in first place in the Middle East and North Africa (61.7% average) and well ahead of the global average of 68.8%.
A Standout in Political Representation, EducationPolitical empowerment remains one of the country's standout achievements - a domain where gender gaps have historically been the widest. A regional leader, the UAE ranked 32nd globally on this subindex, marking a jump of eight positions from the previous edition of the report. It holds first place globally for women's representation in parliament, sharing the top spot with other countries that achieved full parity in this subcategory, a result of its policy of equal participation in the Federal National Council.The gains extend beyond the halls of government. In education, the UAE has achieved full parity in female-to-male enrolment ratios across primary, secondary, and tertiary education, earning it the top global position in all three subcategories and 57th overall.Data from the report shows that female Emirati graduates nearly match their male counterparts in STEM fields, and outnumber them in academic disciplines such as mathematics, statistics, arts, humanities, health, welfare, education, and social sciences.This political and educational progress is mirrored in the professional sphere, where the UAE placed 14th globally for wage equality for similar work. It also boasts one of the highest values globally for the advancement of women to leadership roles, with a score of 5.69 on a scale used by the WEF to assess women's upward mobility in the workplace.And when it comes to access, women in the UAE are reported to have equal rights in financial services, land and non-land asset ownership, and freedom of movement, placing the country among the most gender-equal nations on these legal indicators.These results come as the world continues to close the gender gap at a slow but steady rate. This year's report finds that 68.8% of the overall gap has been closed globally, up just 0.3 percentage points from 2024.
Political empowerment continues to be the category where the world has gained the most ground, with a nine-point improvement since 2006. However, even with this relative momentum, the report estimates it will still take over a century to reach full global gender parity.
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