WOMEN’S FORUM JOINS FORCES WITH THE WORLD GOVERNMENT SUMMIT IN DUBAI

The Women’s Forum was thrilled to be in Dubai this week at the invitation of the World Government Summit to co-host the Empowering Societal Resilience track sessions on gender equality!

In parallel, we were proud to host several events at the Women’s Pavilion, beginning with a reception on March 28^th, and a CEO Champions meeting on March 29^th. On March 30^th we convened at the World Government Summit for our co-hosted sessions.

We were pleased to gather our partners and members of our international network to highlight their expertise on gender equality.

Discover the highlights from Dubai below!

Private Reception at the Women’s Pavilion
Achieving gender equality in the workplace

Improving equality in the workplace has many benefits for employers, as well as for society. 80% of people in the G20 countries believe that if women had the same opportunities as men in their working lives, it would have an impact on society as a whole (Women’s Forum Barometer). Yet women still earn significantly less than their male colleagues and remain underrepresented in leadership positions, despite long-standing attention and efforts to address this issue.

What concrete actions can companies take to promote gender balance? Economic leaders shared their measures and actions in favor of equality in their corporations.

• Hind Alowais, Senior Vice President of International Participants Department, Expo 2020 Dubai
• Matthew Lewis, Managing Director, Russell Reynolds Associates Middle East
• Samar Alshorafa, Founding CEO of She is Arab; LinkedIn Top Voices MENA Gender Equity 2022; Vital Voices Grow Fellow 2021; Arab Power List 2021
• Mimoun A. Assraoui, CEO, Rif Trust

CEO Champions at the Women’s Pavilion

At this invitation-only workshop, we convened 25+ global and regional CEOs to work on the Towards the Zero Gender Gap commitment. McKinsey, our Knowledge Partner, shared the exclusive results from their study Women at Work, which focuses on the driving forces behind low female representation and the enablers for achieving gender parity in the workplace.

The Towards the Zero Gender Gap commitment is an on-record engagement around 5 key strategic actions(each accompanied by suggested ideas for implementation):

1. Continue to mitigate the impacts of unconscious bias from hiring and promotion processes
2. Establish aspirational female recruiting and promotion targets
3. Support female talent retention and advancement
4. Ensure that equal pay for equal work is in place and effective
5. Regularly measure, monitor, and evaluate progress in all of the above actions

World Government Summit | Dubai Exhibition Center
Empowering Societies with Future Skills

Tech is at the heart of our everyday lives, making STEM skills crucial for the future. In order to address today’s complex challenges, we require innovative solutions and diverse perspectives. This is why an equal gender representation in STEM skills has become a necessity as it will enhance creativity in these fields and thus increase the possibility of success. But how can we reach equality in STEM when gender stereotypes and biases are still prevalent?

• H.E. Sarah Al Amiri, Minister of State for Advanced Technology, UAE Government (Women’s Forum Rising Talent 2016)
• Asrar Damdam, CEO and Founder of Uvera, Forbes 30 under 30 
• Moderated by Isabel Neiva, Partner, Kearney UAE

Women’s Empowerment and Gender Balance

Each speaker, according to their own personal and professional experiences, tackled work-life balance issues derived from gender stereotypes as well as other gender issues within the workplace (gender pay gap, sexism and unequal gender representation at all levels). This session highlighted the obstacles faced by women in their careers and shared the innovative solutions they propose to continue fostering long-lasting change towards equality and empowerment. The inspiring insights shared during this session gave the audience tools to act within their personal and professional lives.

• Ouided Bouchamaoui, Nobel Peace Laureate 2015 and Former President of UTICA
• Jean-Paul Scheuer, General Manager Sanofi Genzyme and MCO Lead Greater Gulf, Sanofi
• Moderated by Chiara Riffaldi, Principal, Kearney UAE

Find the full album of photos from #WFDubai2022 here

For our participation in Dubai, we are delighted to have the support of our partners.