Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Mother of the Nation, met the UAE Cabinet’s newly-appointed female ministers at the Sea Palace in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.
The country’s leaders have made Emirati women a priority to help them enter the workforce, said Sheikha Fatima, who is Chairwoman of the General Women’s Union, Supreme Chairwoman of the Family Development Foundation, and President of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood.
The new appointments bring the total number of female ministers in the Government to eight, with the youngest being Shamma Al Mazrui, Minister of State for Youth Affairs, who is a recent graduate of New York University Abu Dhabi and Oxford University, and was 22 when she was appointed.
Previously, Sheikha Fatima said, President Sheikh Khalifa had appointed eight women to the Federal National Council.
The appointments proved the confidence UAE leaders have in women, Sheikha Fatima said, noting that their Emirati women’s presence in government authorities reflected the importance of women’s role in society.
Sheikha Al Yazia bint Saif, wife of Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, attended the meeting.
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