A new national committee will review the UAE Maternity Law “to provide women with a supportive work environment in line with best international practices”, Dubai government officials announced on Tuesday.

The newly forged committee will also activate what’s called the Gender Balance Index in the country to close the gender gap between men and women.

Shaikha Manal Bint Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, President of the UAE Gender Balance Council and Dubai Women Establishment (DWE), directed the formation of the committee to ensure women are an equal partner in UAE’s society.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Shaikha Manal said: “We are working to activate the Gender Balance Index across various sectors to enhance the role of women, and promote gender equality through encouraging female participation. In the next phase, the UAE Gender Balance Council will take the necessary steps to ensure that men and women have equal opportunities to participate in the sustainable development of the UAE and to achieve the country’s vision in terms of gender balance on a local, regional and global level.”

At a second meeting of the gender balance council, Mona Ganem Al Merri, vice-president of the council, said it was critical to help women achieve top political and leadership positions and promote more working women in the economy.

One way to boost the numbers of women in the workplace, the council heard, is to introduce part-time work shifts in companies and departments.

In May, Al Merri said a number of performance indicators will be used to measure gender equality across government departments and entities, in order to strengthen gender balance in all public sector institutions.

The indicators will also measure the extent to which government entities in the UAE are providing a friendly and supportive environment for working mothers through a survey conducted by a neutral party. These indicators will be implemented through a comprehensive work plan and activated at a federal level.

At an earlier meeting, Al Merri noted that the “Federal National Council election witnessed an increase in female representation from 17.5 per cent to 22.5 per cent, the appointment of a woman as the president of the Council for the first time in the history of the UAE and the Arab world and an increase in female representation in the new cabinet to 27.5 per cent, all of which reflect our leadership’s confidence in the ability of women to contribute to national development and their sincere desire to promote women’s role in decision-making”.

The UAE Gender Balance Council was established to reduce the gender gap across all government sectors in the country, enhance the UAE’s ranking in global reports on gender equality and promote gender balance in decision-making positions. The Council also aims to launch innovative initiatives and projects that contribute to greater gender balance, which will position the UAE as a model for gender balance and a benchmark for legislation.