UPR Sexual Rights Database

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 2) Treatment Action Group (TAG) indicated that, despite several recommendations under the 2008 and 2013 UPR reviews […] the United Arab Emirates (UAE) had not acceded to ICESCR nor ICCPR.

National Report Annex:
The concerned stakeholders in the UAE, headed by the General Women's Union (and in cooperation with specialized international organizations), have engaged in developing a strategy for the five coming years, which takes into account the indicators and criteria set out in the Millennium Development Goals and the conventions ratified by the UAE such as the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women It is expected that the strategy will be launched by the end of 2012, so that government institutions at both federal and local levels as well as civil society organizations can develop adequate plans to implement this strategy so as to secure a mechanism to ensure continued efforts to empower women in the area of education, health, economy, social work, legislation, environment, media and political participation.

The General Women's Union issued publications to raise awareness of women's rights and informative pamphlets about different laws. It also maintains ongoing communication with United Nations organizations concerned with women%u2019s issues, such as the UN Women, United Nations Development Programme and ESCWA to benefit from international experiences and best practices in the promotion and development of women's rights.

The General Women's Union started the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS4), which is a global household survey program developed by UNICEF which supervises its application. The survey is designed to gather sound data statistics and estimates internationally comparable with key indicators used to assess the status of women and children in the areas of health, education and social protection. The MICS4 survey also provides a tool to monitor progress towards achieving the national goals and global commitments which aim to promote the welfare of women and children, including the MDGs.

The Council of Ministers issued Decision No. 51/4w/2 of 2010 by which it set up the Standing Committee for Universal Periodic Review which is responsible for monitoring the implementation of the periodic review outcome and preparing its review process. The Committee' members are the General Women's Union, which represents women's associations in the country, the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood, federal and local government agencies, and a number of civil society institutions in the UAE. This membership represents a real guarantee to ensure the participation of women and women%u2019s associations in implementing the results of the universal periodic review and addressing women concerns.

Legislative and legal measures in the UAE tend to eliminate gender discrimination, since the UAE has adopted a number of policies to ensure the advancement of the status of women, their enjoyment of all their constitutional and legal rights, their participation in decision-making and representativeness at the international level. Women in the UAE enjoy high equality rates compared with men in all areas, since women hold 66% of government jobs, 30% of which are senior leadership jobs associated with decision-making, 15% of the teaching staff at the United Arab Emirates University, and about 60% of professional jobs, which include medicine, teaching, pharmacy and nursing, in addition to their enrolment in the armed forces, police and customs.

To ensure equality between women and men in the UAE, Article 32 of the Labour Law provides that "working woman shall be entitled to the same wage as that of a working man, if she does the same work". Similarly, the equality issue in the UAE takes into account the different nature of women that may affect their performance at work compared to men, since legal texts were developed for this purpose in order to preserve women%u2019s rights and enable them to better perform their work based on these provisions. Employment of women in hazardous work has been banned under Article 29 of labour Law, whereas Article 27 codified women working hours, especially night hours. The issue of motherhood for working women has been solved by the Council of Ministers Decision No. 19 of 2006, which calls on ministries, government agencies, institutions and departments to establish nurseries if the number of their married females reaches 50.