{"id":44798,"date":"2021-11-12T10:02:38","date_gmt":"2021-11-12T10:02:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/uae-ambassador-interacts-with-women-entrepreneurs-from-rwanda-muslim-community\/"},"modified":"2021-11-12T11:58:44","modified_gmt":"2021-11-12T11:58:44","slug":"uae-ambassador-interacts-with-women-entrepreneurs-from-rwanda-muslim-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/uae-ambassador-interacts-with-women-entrepreneurs-from-rwanda-muslim-community\/","title":{"rendered":"UAE Ambassador interacts with women entrepreneurs from Rwanda Muslim Community"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>He made the appreciation on Thursday 11th November 2021 as he interacted with 25 women entrepreneurs from the Rwanda Muslim Community who were also taken through the UAE\u2019s gender equality and women\u2019s empowerment initiatives.  <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI want to highlight that we recognize the great initiatives put in place by the Government of Rwanda in empowering women and fostering gender equality in all sectors. The results have been outstanding,\u201d he said.  <\/p>\n<p>After the devastating effects of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, Rwanda placed gender equality and women empowerment at the forefront to drive the country\u2019s vision for development.<\/p>\n<p>Rwandan women have seized available opportunities and made major strides in realizing their dreams and impacting their respective communities. <\/p>\n<p>Today, Rwanda is a global leader in women participation in legislative decision-making positions with 61.3% female members of Parliament and also ranked 9th globally in closing gender gaps according to the Global Gender Gap Report, 2020. <\/p>\n<p>In addition, 52% of the Cabinet members are women, among the Judges and clerks, women stand at 49.7% while in the local government leadership, women occupy 45.2 % as Members of District Councils.<\/p>\n<p>Rwanda and the UAE enjoy cordial relations and share a common vision with regard to women empowerment. <\/p>\n<p>As he interacted with women entrepreneurs during the event held at UAE Embassy in Kigali, Amb. Alqahtani reminisced on different programs initiated by the UAE Government in Rwanda where women empowerment is always taken into consideration.  <\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo name a few, the Embassy held a successful training in partnership with the Rwanda Development Board and the Ministry of Education, to Empower 100 Women Future Leaders in Hospitality and Tourism Excellence. The training was conducted by highly qualified trainers from the Emirates Academy of Hospitality Management and was attended by young women working in Rwanda\u2019s tourism and hospitality sector,\u201d he noted. <\/p>\n<p>Amb. Alqahtani also reflected on the inspirational words of the founding father of the UAE, late Sheikh Zayed highlighting that a woman plays a critical role in the society. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe woman is half of the society, any country which pursues development should not leave her in poverty or illiteracy. I am on the woman\u2019s side,\u201d he quoted.<\/p>\n<p>He went on to explain that the UAE Constitution guarantees equal rights to all of its citizens, including women who have the same legal status, access to education, the right to practice and pursue different careers, the right to own as many as possible properties as men do among others.  <\/p>\n<p>The World Economic Forum\u2019s 2020 Global Gender Gap Report revealed that the UAE is one of the region\u2019s best performing countries having closed the overall gender gap by 66%. The report assessed women\u2019s economic opportunity, education, health and political empowerment.<\/p>\n<p>Among others, the World Bank\u2019s 2020 Women, Business and the Law Report also named UAE as one of the world\u2019s top ten economies exhibiting the most progress towards gender equality.<\/p>\n<p>The UAE also ranked 35 out of 189 countries in women\u2019s empowerment according to the 2019 Human Development Report commissioned by the UNDP.<\/p>\n<p>In 2015, the UAE Gender Balance Council, a federal entity, was established to enhance gender balance in the public sector for women in the UAE and aims to help place the UAE among the top 25 countries for gender equality by 2021.<\/p>\n<p>Later in 2017, the UAE Gender Balance Council in coordination with the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) introduced the Gender Balance Guide, a tool for both the public and private sectors with the aim to decrease gender inequality.<\/p>\n<p>Other efforts include launch of the Arab Charter of Women\u2019s Rights on October 8th 2019 in Abu Dhabi to serve as a guideline for all Arab League member states with an aim to inform legislation and ensure Arab women\u2019s rights among others. <\/p>\n<p>Regarding representation in government positions, the Emirati women in the UAE hold two-thirds of public sector jobs, with 30% in leadership roles and 15% in technical and academic roles. Women also make up 20% of the UAE\u2019s diplomatic corps.<\/p>\n<p>The UAE has a population of approximately 10 million. <\/p>\n<p>Sheikh Salim Hitimana, the Mufti of Rwanda has commended the UAE for its initiatives to advance women empowerment that has been extended to Rwandans through Rwanda Muslim Community highlighting that it will be a critical towards fully overcoming barriers that hindered women\u2019s involvement in different activities.  <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere came a time when women Muslims were not actively engaged in businesses and other income generating activities due to social and cultural constraints. With the visionary leadership of Rwanda, women inclusion has been achieved gradually that we have many women running businesses and other activities to spur their economic growth,\u201d he said.  <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe current progress is commendable. We have optimism that with more great initiatives advancing women\u2019s empowerment, we shall achieve women inclusion to the desired extent,\u201d added Sheikh Salim Hitimana. <\/p>\n<p>This is the second interactive discussion held by the UAE Ambassador, following the first meeting he held in November 2020 with entrepreneurs from the Private Sector Federation Chamber of Women.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-40048 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/photos__13.jpg\" alt=\"The Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to Rwanda, Hazza Alqahtani in a group photo with women entrepreneurs from Rwanda Muslim Community.\" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-40049 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/photos__2.jpg\" alt=\"Women entrepreneurs from Rwanda Muslim Community following discussions at UAE Embassy in Rwanda.  \" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-40050 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/photos__11.jpg\" alt=\"The Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to Rwanda, Hazza Alqahtani speaking to women entrepreneurs from Rwanda Muslim Community.  \" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-40046 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/photos__6.jpg\" alt=\"Sheikh Salim Hitimana, the Mufti of Rwanda has commended the UAE for its initiatives to advance women empowerment.   \" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-40045 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/photos__8.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-40047 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/photos__5.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>{The Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to Rwanda, Hazza Alqahtani has commended Rwanda\u2019s efforts to promote women empowerment.}<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[75],"byline":[160],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-44798","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-homenews","byline-theophile-niyitegeka"],"bylines":[{"id":160,"name":"Th\u00e9ophile Niyitegeka","slug":"theophile-niyitegeka","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":3}],"contributors":[{"id":160,"name":"Th\u00e9ophile Niyitegeka","slug":"theophile-niyitegeka","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":3}],"featured_image":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44798","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/62"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44798"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44798\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44798"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=44798"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=44798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}