Changing minds on UAE women

Mona Al Marri, chairwoman of the Dubai Women Establishment and the director Ggeneral of Dubai Media Office, has taken in upon herself to change many negative misconceptions people in the West have about the Arab women.

DUBAI // Mona Al Marri is on a mission to to correct westerners’ negative misconceptions about the Arab world.

At a recent women’s rights conference in France, the chairwoman of the Dubai Women Establishment was surprised to hear ill-informed views from many western participants about the role of women in UAE society.

Ms Al Marri, who is also the director general of Dubai Government Media Office, hopes to show them the truth about Emirati women when the conference, the Women’s Forum Global Meeting, is held in Dubai next year.

“We, as Arabs and Muslims, need to change this by sharing what we are doing, through conventional and social media. This way, people will get an idea of who we truly are,” she said.

Indeed, the forum next year would help to change misconceptions about the UAE, which had been compared with countries with poor educational levels, cultural issues and early marriages, said Ms Al Marri.

The UAE was a good example of how Muslim countries treat women with respect, she said, adding that Emirati women should be thankful for the Government’s support. “We are lucky to have such leadership that believes [in women], and trusts and encourages women to succeed in all fields,” she said.

At the recent conference, Ms Al Marri took part in a panel discussion about the role of women in the Middle East, with a focus on education.

“The Middle East is a troubled region, and I cannot talk on the behalf of other countries. But I can give a positive example of the UAE and the progress [of Emirati women] in the past 40 years,” she said.

Emirati women who attended the conference sought to provide a positive impression of the treatment of women in the UAE, said Ms Al Marri.

Indeed, Sheikh Zayed, the late President of the UAE, believed in empowering women, and members of the present leadership were now following his footsteps, she said.

“The leadership today also believes in the capability of women and the role that they can play, [to be] part of the development of the society,” she said.

On the issue of education in the UAE, Ms Al Marri said there were only 45 university graduates in the country in 1971, and five were women.

All of them completed their tertiary studies at their own expense because there was no university in the UAE then, she said, adding that there was only one high school for girls in Dubai at that time.

“Today, we have the highest female enrolment in high schools and universities in the whole world – 92 per cent,” she said. “That is a huge jump, when you look at it. From [having] one school to the highest number in the world.

“Such numbers, I believe, make a difference in international conferences.

“When you give statistics, facts and figures that are internationally credible, they give you a different weight.”

Ms Al Marri said Emirati women were being empowered across all sectors, not just in education and healthcare as in the distant past.

To illustrate her point, she pointed to Maj Mariam Al Mansouri, the UAE’s first female fighter pilot, who made international headlines recently for bombing ISIL targets in Syria.

“I believe, in the UAE, women have got their full rights,” she said.

But Ms Al Marri hopes more women would become entrepreneurs and work in the private sector. “Women can participate in different sectors but it needs a drive from themselves, not from the government or society. They need to take that challenge and enter such sectors,” she said.