ABU DHABI- Abu Dhabi Global Market, ADGM, today launched a 'Gender Equality Initiative', to strengthen gender equality across all job functions and levels in the workplace.

According to an ADGM statement, the programme launch is in line with the UAE Government's Vision 2021 goals to enhance gender equality in the workplace, as well as meeting with the UN's 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs.

"ADGM’s Gender Equality Initiative also aligns with the UAE’s global efforts in advocating for ‘gender markers’ and other measures to promote involvement of women and girls in the UN system," the statement added. The Gender Equality Initiative has three areas of focus - Leading by Example, Working Collaboratively, and Championing Effective Change. Each of these will enable definitive and measurable objectives to support progression of women into senior roles, committing to identifying and sharing potential impediments and best practices to improve workplace gender equality, and promoting "gender-lens impact investing" by supporting fund initiatives that provide products and services that address gender issues. Since its inception in 2015, ADGM has taken active strides in recruiting a talented pool of women professionals and graduate entrants who today make up close to half of its total workforce, the statement noted, adding that this gender equality initiative aims to increase and maintain a sustainable representation of women across all work functions including senior management and leadership roles.

Commenting on the programme launch, Ahmed Ali Al Sayegh, Minister of State and Chairman of ADGM, said, "Gender equality is the basis of a strong and progressive society. Sheikh Zayed, the father of our nation and a visionary, established the foundations for a gender-equal society and we aim to continue building on his legacy and accelerate progress in this direction. One of the goals under Vision 2021 is to achieve Gender Balance which includes committing to and oversight of gender balance, engage personnel towards gender balance and implement gender balance in leadership positions, among others." "The UAE has a commendable record when it comes to gender equality at entry-level, but the proportion of women in senior and leadership roles remains an area for greater improvement, with women filling in only 17 per cent of all senior positions. We believe that providing a more balanced, better skilled and happier workforce is essential for the growth of an organisation and society at large. ADGM’s commitment to gender-equality is both the right thing to do and has been proven to be good for business globally. "

ADGM’s ‘Gender Equality Initiative’ is supported by WiSER (Masdar), The 30% Club MENA - that campaigns for greater representation of women on boards and in C-suite globally with a minimum target of 30%, CFA Institute - the global association of investment professionals, Hub71, the US Embassy in the UAE, UN Women, French Business Group and the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority – that established the "Gender Equality Lab" and oversees the UN’s SDG implementation for the UAE.

© Copyright Emirates News Agency (WAM) 2019.