Wife of His Highness Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, Her Highness Sheikha Manal bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, President of UAE Gender Balance Council, confirmed that the UAE has made great strides in empowering women in all fields, and recognized the importance of their role as key partners in sustainable development of the country.
Her Highness said: “The Emirati women have been receiving utmost care and attention by our wise leadership represented by His Highness President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces”.
She praised the initiative of the Federal Authority for Government Human Resources to open a nursery for the Authority employees’ children as part of the National Nursery Project, which was launched in 2009 with the aim of establishing nurseries in government offices to provide a gender-sensitive work environment and to enable women workers to continue their contribution as partners in the comprehensive development witnessed by the UAE at all levels.
Sheikha Manal bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum also praised the constructive cooperation of the Federal Authority for Government Human Resources with the UAE Gender Balance Council in the efforts being exerted to support the achievement of gender equality as one of the most important requirements of the national agenda.
“The opening of this nursery for the children of the Authority employees is in line with the Council's objective to reduce the gender gap across all sectors of the country. In addition, the existence of such a nursery at the workplace would help the working woman maintain a balance between her work and family life. This can create a healthy work environment and increase employee happiness and productivity”, Her Highness noted.
HE Mona Ghanem Al Marri, Vice President of the UAE Gender Balance Council, opened the Al Basateen Model Nursery, established by the Federal Authority for Government Human Resources at its headquarters in Dubai. The nursery will serve the Authority employees and those of three federal government entities close to the Authority's headquarters: Federal Transport Authority and the Emirates Authority for Standardization and Metrology. HE praised the standards on which the nursery was built, its quality design and the services it provides to children and their mothers.
She urged all parties to follow the example of the Authority and the other government institutions that have taken similar steps over the past years, a step that has proved to be of positive impact, through opinion polls and happiness among employees of these institutions.
She said: “Establishing a nursery at the workplace is a crucial requirement of the workplace and represents one of the three pillars of gender balance index, which measures the level of progress made by entities in the country. It is also in line with the national goals adopted by the wise leadership, and will for the criteria for recognizing outstanding performance and results in this area”. She called on all government institutions to establish nurseries at their headquarters.
The opening ceremony was attended by HE Dr. Abdulrahman Al Awar, Director General of the Federal Authority for Government Human Resources, HE Shamsa Saleh, CEO of Dubai Women's Establishment, a number of the Authority officials and representatives of British Orchard Nursery, which is tasked with operating the Authority’s nursery.
Dr. Abdul Rahman Al Awar, Director General of the Authority, lauded the efforts of Her Highness Sheikha Manal Bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and the UAE Gender Balance Council in supporting Emirati women to become a driving force in the UAE society, through initiatives that enhance their skills and competencies. He confirmed the commitment of the Authority to support these efforts to increase the attractiveness of work environment for both women and men.
He added that the nursery provides an ideal educational environment for the employees’ children, and allows them to practice educational and sports activities that would develop their talents and instil a culture of creativity in them.
During the inauguration, Ibrahim Fikri, Executive Director of Support Services at the Federal Authority for Government Human Resources reviewed the main features of the nursery project, and what distinguishes it from others in terms of recreation and curriculum. He explained that the nursery has been designed according to the best health and safety standards in the world, as it is operated by British Orchard Nursery with more than 25 quality certificates.