The UAE Cabinet has approved the new Law on Equal Wages and Salaries for Men and Women to ensure that women have equal opportunities as partners in the UAE’s development, and to further empower women to lead future national strategies and ambitious projects, reported state news agency Wam.

Announcing the cabinet decision, HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, said that since the Founding Father of the UAE, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, has recognised the importance of establishing gender balance and its long-term positive social and economic effects, the UAE Government has been consolidating efforts to narrow the gender gap.

In 2015, the UAE Council for Gender Balance was established to position UAE among the leading countries in the world in terms of gender balance, said the Wam report.

Since its inception, the government of the UAE had full awareness of the importance of establishing gender balance and the long-term positive impacts. The UAE continues to pioneer in the involvement of women in the development process through the issuance of the new law, it stated.

The Cabinet’s approval of the Law on Equal Wages and Salaries comes in line with the government’s objective to ensure the protection of women's rights and support their role in the national development process.

It is also part of the Strategy for the Empowerment of Emirati Women launched by Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Chairwoman of the General Women's Union, President of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood, and Supreme Chairwoman of the Family Development Foundation.

Lauding the cabinet approval, Sheikha Fatima said that this decision emphasises that the UAE government supports, motivates and stands beside women to give them the opportunities to participate in the development of the country.

Sheikha Fatima said that late Sheikh Zayed had always called for the participation of women in the workplace, wherever they find respect, dignity and growth.

The UAE has achieved gender balance in all fields and that the UAE Cabinet's decision encourages women more to devote themselves to work and make greater efforts to achieve the state's goals, she added.