Qatar Affirms Continuous Efforts to Empower Women, Enhance Their Participation

The State of Qatar has affirmed that it will continue its efforts to empower women and enhance their participation in all aspects of life at the national, regional, and international levels.This came in the State of Qatar's statement delivered by the Second Secretary of the Permanent Mission of the State of Qatar to the United Nations Sheikha Al Maha bint Mubarak Al-Thani before the 78th UN General Assembly Third Committee: General Discussion on the Advancement of Women in New York.The issue of women's empowerment is at the top of the State of Qatar's priorities based on its firm belief in the importance of promoting women's human rights and enhancing their equal participation in the country's sustainable development efforts in line with the Qatar National Vision 2030, the Second Secretary of Qatar's Permanent Mission to the UN stressed.The State of Qatar is keen to pursue policies aimed at equal opportunities for women in education, employment, and care, making it a leading country in the region in gender equality indicators, including the highest rate of womens participation in the labor force, equal wages in the government sector, in addition to the highest percentage of female enrollment in universities, she added.The legislation and policies aimed at achieving a balance between work and family responsibilities adopted by the State of Qatar have contributed significantly to empowering Qatari women and enhancing their participation in the public and private sector workforce while enabling women with disabilities to access skill and economic empowerment services, she said.The State of Qatar prides itself that Qatari women have today become an effective partner in the country's developmental renaissance process through holding several ministerial and senior positions in the fields of education, medicine, engineering, diplomatic work, police, aviation in its civil and military branches and other fields, in addition to their participation as a candidate and voter in municipal and Shura Council elections, partaking in decision-making processes at the highest levels, she continued.The State of Qatar was the first in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries to give women the opportunity to work as judges. Women in the Supreme Judicial Council represent over 48 percent, while the percentage of women occupying senior positions in the judiciary administration reaches 69 percent. She stated that the State Qatar was the author of the draft resolution adopted in the General Assembly to make March 10 the International Day of Women Judges.Additionally, the State of Qatar is keen on the role of women and young women in building peace as a country active in the field of mediation to settle conflicts. During its virtual hosting of the high-level global conference on comprehensive peace paths for youth in January 2022, the country actively involved young women in the conference which issued several important outcomes that would enhance the implementation of international agendas related to youth, peace, security, women, peace hand security, she said.In this context, she stated that the State of Qatars investment in developing human resources and infrastructure has resulted in distinguished womens economic leadership in 2021, reaching about 57 percent. This has exceeded the global average and continues to rise due to the resources and supportive policies allocated to it. She added that enrollment rates for Women in university studies have reached significant rates supported by national statistics. Seventy percent of the graduates of the faculties of information systems, computer engineering, engineering, medicine, pharmacy, and science are women. They also represent a percentage exceeding 58.3 percent in the local labor market, with a solid representation in foreign policy, security, the judiciary, and the army. They also achieved a percentage of 15 percent in private entrepreneurship with investments amounting to 25 billion USD.At the end of the statement, the Second Secretary of the Permanent Mission of the State of Qatar to the UN Sheikha Al Maha bint Mubarak Al-Thani affirmed the State of Qatars commitment to increasing investment and the national, international, bilateral, and multilateral efforts in promoting the digitalization of education as a driving basis for achieving the goals of humanitarian leadership, in order to empower women and girls and give them an interactive electronic space. (QNA)