ABU DHABI: The UAE National Competitiveness Council (NAFIS) has revealed that the percentage of Emirati women working in private sector companies and establishments has increased to 70 per cent of the total number of citizens working in the sector.
The last three years have witnessed an unprecedented increase in the total number of citizens joining the private sector in the country, exceeding 201.4 per cent, recording 108,000 male and female citizens, including 70,404 citizens who obtained job opportunities since the launch of the Nafis programme in September 2021 until the middle of this year. This compares to 37,569 citizens who were working in various private sector establishments and institutions before the launch of the programme.
Under the Nafis programme, the total number of female citizens currently working in private sector companies and establishments has reached 75,600, which represents 70 per cent of the national cadres, compared to 32,400 male citizens. This includes more than 20,000 female citizens who joined the non-governmental sector between July 2023 to July 2024.
Most Emirati women in the private sector work in the financial and banking sectors, tourism and retail trade, education, business services, health and other economic sectors.
Nafis considers that the high indicators of Emirati women’s participation in the national economic activity, and their occupation of many different jobs, confirms the success of the policies and initiatives implemented by the state to empower Emirati women functionally, in addition to achieve a balance between them and men in the labour market.
The UAE has implemented a package of qualitative initiatives to support Emirati women, including the “Remote Work” initiative, which aims to create more job opportunities for them, with a system that does not require them to commute to the workplace every day, and enable them to achieve better work-life balance.
Women dominate Nafis Awards
Siginificantly, Emirati women emerged at the forefront in the second edition of the Nafis Award 2023-2024. They won 11 out of 15 awards allocated in five categories, including the “Supervisory Jobs” category, in which the first place was won by the head of Individuals Strategy and Engagement Department at Commercial Bank of Dubai, Aisha Salem Al Mazrouei.
The third place went to the Vice-President of Complaints Management at Daman, Maryam Hassan Al Hammadi, while the “Banking Jobs” category saw the Director of Product Development and Launch at Commercial Bank International, Dana Mohammed Al Ansari, Audit Officer of the Compliance Department at Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Shafiqa Mohammed Al Salami, and User Experience Designer at Dubai Islamic Bank, Aisha Hassan Al Naqbi, as winners.
The list of Emirati women who won the award in the “Insurance Jobs” category included Reem Mohsen Al Falasi, Business Development Manager at Cigna Middle East Insurance Company, Najla Yousef Al Naqbi, Assistant Manager of Emiratisation Affairs at Daman Company, and Fatima Zaid Al Shehhi, Assistant Manager of Daman Company.
In the “Medical Jobs” category, Dr. Mariam Khalfan Al Suwaidi, Consultant Dermatologist and Venereologist at Burjeel Day Surgery Centre, and Dr. Amna Mohammed Al Marzouqi, Specialist Periodontist at Amina Hospital, won the award, while Aisha Ali Ahmed Al Mahri, Deputy CEO of Burjeel Hospital, won the third place in the “Leadership Jobs” category.
