QNA
Geneva
The State of Qatar has affirmed that women’s economic empowerment and providing them with full opportunities to participate in all sectors of economic life are essential for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), pointing that it requires an integrated approach that works to end all forms of discrimination against women and girls with an equal focus on social and economic aspects.
This came in the statement of the State of Qatar delivered by Maha Al Sulaiti, third secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, during the “Annual Full-Day Discussion on Women’s Human Rights - Second Discussion Session: The Economy of Human Rights and Women’s Human Rights”, within the framework of the fifty-sixth session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
Al Sulaiti added that the State of Qatar has worked to enhance the role of women in various aspects of life, including participation in the labour market and in economic and political decision-making, and considered it one of the essential factors for the success of Qatar National Vision 2030, which paid great attention to empowering women and enhancing their capabilities.
She explained that the economic empowerment of women in Qatar has been based on a number of factors, the most important of which are providing opportunities for access to high-quality education, adopting open economic and investment policies, and establishing a diversified economy. She added that Qatari women currently hold, thanks to this strategic direction, many administrative and executive leadership positions in various sectors, which has led to Qatari women excelling in entrepreneurship in recent years by establishing many innovative economic and investment projects.
Al Sulaiti further said that Qatari law, in order to enhance women’s involvement in the labour market, has provided appropriate conditions for women to help them achieve a balance between work and family by providing high-quality childcare services, flexible working hours, the possibility of working from home, and granting paid maternity leave and breastfeeding hours. This has raised the percentage of Qatari women’s participation in the labour market, reaching 37 percent of women aged (25-29 years), and about 49 percent for the age group (30-34 years), while the percentage of women’s representation in decision-making positions is 30 percent.
She pointed out that the State of Qatar has shown interest at the international level in initiatives that seek to empower women economically, as the Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD) launched the “Women in Conflict Zones” initiative in 2022 to provide protection for women in conflict zones and facilitate and encourage their participation in the economic and social sectors to be part of the workforce in a way that achieves a decent life for them.
She also stressed that the initiative also works to focus humanitarian and development aid to promote gender equality and access to financing programs for women, education and capacity development, including providing vocational training for girls and women in conflict zones.
Al Sulaiti noted that in 2021, the QFFD provided support to finance vocational training and scholarships for women and girls in Afghanistan. In December 2019, the Qatar Development Fund supported efforts to empower Syrian refugees in host communities by helping them develop entrepreneurship and sustainable job opportunities. In 2018, the Fund supported a project to economically empower 10,000 women and youth in Somalia by providing access to microfinance for projects and creating job opportunities to alleviate poverty.
