The UAE has been ranked 18th globally and the first regionally in the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) 2020 Gender Inequality Index (GII).
Her Highness Sheikha Manal bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, President of the UAE Gender Balance Council, President of Dubai Women Establishment, and wife of His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, expressed her pride at the UAE rising eight positions from its previously-held ranking of 26th in 2019.
Her Highness Sheikha Manal said, "The UAE Gender Balance Council was founded in 2015 by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, with the goal of making the UAE one of the world’s top 25 countries in gender balance, as per the UNDP GII, by the year 2021. I am very proud of what we have accomplished in five years since the Council’s establishment. This achievement reflects the priority given to gender balance in our leadership’s vision, and the long-standing support offered to women in the UAE."
Her Highness Sheikha Manal added, "As we celebrate surpassing the target that we initially aimed to reach by 2021, we renew our ongoing commitment to further consolidating the UAE’s status as a model for gender balance best practices."
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, stated that the goal set was to make UAE one of the 25 top countries by 2021, in the field of gender balance and surpassed all expectations even before 2020.