Manal bint Mohammed: The forum's debut MENA region event highlights roles and achievements of Arab women

Dubai-UAE: 30 June, 2015

Dubai Women Establishment (DWE) announced today that the upcoming Women's Forum Dubai (WFD) will be held in Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai on 23-24 February 2016. The date has been agreed during high level meetings that took place here last week between senior officials of the DWE and the Deauville-based Women's Forum for the Economy and Society, the organizing body of the forum. 

The five days meetings were led by Her Excellency Mona Ghanem Al Marri, Chairperson of Dubai Women Establishment and Jacqueline Franjou, Chief Executive Officer of the Women's Forum, as well as members of the organizing committee. 

The WFD session briefs and forum partners were also decided in the meetings. The two sides also discussed creative ideas for the 'Discovery' exhibition, which will be located at the heart of the Forum as a hive of activity providing a multitude of opportunities to meet, share, learn and be inspired.

The forum's debut in the MENA region is a joint initiative of the Dubai Women Establishment and Women's Forum for the Economy and Society; and will be the first satellite event by Women's Forum to not only match but even exceed the scale of the annual Global Meeting event in Deauville, France. The DFW is expected to attract more than 2,000 international and regional decision-makers, including the most influential and accomplished Emirati women change-makers.

Commenting on the outcomes of the meetings, Her Highness Sheikha Manal bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Women Establishment, wife of His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, UAE said: "We are determined to provide all necessary elements that ensure the success of the debut edition of the prestigious global event in our region. The Women's Forum Dubai is particularly close to my heart as it will bring together not only the greatest male and female minds from the world to discuss gender-related topics, but will also highlight the roles and achievements of Arab women on a global stage."

"Under the directives of our wise leadership, today UAE women can proudly rank themselves among some of the most affluent and empowered women in the world, and we are keen to celebrate the capabilities of our female leadership while also paying tribute to the pioneering women from our history that have paved the way for the new generations," she continued.

HH Sheikha Manal concluded : "The Women's Forum Dubai is our opportunity as a city, a nation and a community to highlight the many characteristics that make us one of the fastest developing regions in terms of innovation, education and governance."

Held under the patronage and presence [a1] of His Highness Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai, and led by Her Highness Sheikha Manal bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Women Establishment; the Women's Forum Dubai does not only reflect the keenness of the UAE leaderships to elevate the status of UAE women, but it also favourably represents the character of our Nation and its citizens at a global level.

Women's Forum Dubai will not only serve Dubai's vision to be the epicentre of international conferences, but is also in alignment with the UAE's strategy to close the Gender Gap and ensure higher representation of UAE women in senior leadership positions. Expected to attract more than 2000 participants, and 200 speakers and international delegates, it aims to bring together leaders from all over the world - women and men - representing the business world, the government, academic circles, culture, etc. in order to give new perspectives to key issues in our present and our future; to create a powerful, global network in order to strengthen the influence of women throughout the world; to draw up innovative and concrete action plans to encourage women's contribution to society and promote diversity in the business world.

Building on the theme "Lets Innovate!", the Women's Forum Dubai  meetings will revolve around 5 main  pillars that address women's contribution in overall, economic progress and stability. The 5 pillars are Achieving, Creating, Giving, Energising, Sustaining. Each pillar will highlight innovative ideas and practices that further effect gender relations in the economy. By cultivating innovation in each of these pillars - businesses societies, governments and academia, collectively will be able to harness new solutions to existing and possible upcoming barriers, with fresh perspectives.

The Discovery exhibition will be among the key highlights of the Women's Forum Dubai. It is the renowned creativity space that offers a variety of Hubs presenting complementary workshops and enlightening exhibits that will help expand on the numerous concepts discussed during the main panel discussions.

Dubai was an obvious location choice for the Forum, with the UAE having ranked first out of 132 countries for 'Women Treated with Respect' in the Social Progress Index 2014. The country also earned top spot in the Arab region in the Global Gender Gap Report 2013.

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About Dubai Women Establishment
The Dubai Women Establishment (DWE) was formed in 2006 under law no. (24) by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum - The UAE Vice President and Prime Minister, and Ruler of Dubai. DWE is headed by Her Highness Sheikha Manal Bint Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum - Wife of HH Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan - UAE Minister of Presidential Affairs. As a statutory body of Dubai Government and as per its founding decree, the Establishment aims to encourage and facilitate the participation of Emirati women in the workforce and society. Mandate includes extensive research to identify and quantify status of women in the workforce of Dubai, as well as initiatives towards women's further development opportunities. Awareness and policies that are conducive to women in the workforce will be recommended to Dubai Government as solutions to enable women to play a greater role within the UAE and on global scale.

About Women's Forum for the Economy and Society
Founded in 2005, the Women's Forum for the Economy and Society is the world′s leading platform featuring women′s views and voices on major social and economic issues. Deploying women′s experience and expertise across all generations and geographies, it offers practical discussions on how to overcome barriers and create new horizons and opportunities, as well as broad, rich and edgy debate on innovative ideas. The Women′s Forum also promotes the advancement of women world-wide via business and social networks.

[a1]It is far too early to announce HH presence. I removed it already in Arabic. 

© Press Release 2015