DEWA sponsors 4th Arab Women Leadership Forum and participates in its sessions

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has supported the 4th Arab Women Leadership Forum, held under the patronage of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and HH Sheikha Manal bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Women’s Establishment and wife of HH Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs. The forum, whose theme is ‘Towards Global Competitiveness,’ highlighted the relationship between women’s participation in economic growth and the existing frameworks in developed countries that help advance women in the workforce. DEWA’s support of the forum as a gold sponsor is part of its social responsibility strategy, and its policy to sponsor distinguished national and international social events. “Our sponsorship of the forum is in line with DEWA’s strategy to support the sustainable development of Dubai, and the wise directives of our prudent leadership. As a national organisation, and to support our commitment to enhancing the role of women in economic, social and cultural development, DEWA attaches great importance to its corporate social responsibility. This is reflected positively on its performance to achieve the best results, and achieve the vision of Dubai to create a better future for generations to come,” said HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD and CEO of DEWA, regarding DEWA’s sponsorship of the 4th Arab Women Leadership Forum. Khawla Al Mehairi, Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Communications, Chairperson of DEWA’s Women’s Committee, participated a panel discussion titled ‘Workplaces that Work: Conducive Policies on Female Retention’ on the second day of the forum. The panel discussed the best workplace retention policies and practices, and the strategies to achieve this. The panel included Deborah Gillis, President and CEO of Catalyst, from the USA, and Khaled Al Khudair, Founder of GloWork, from Saudi Arabia. It was moderated by Wesley Schwalje, Chief Operating Officer of Tahseen Consulting, from the UAE. At the session, Al Mehairi explained that the UAE has debunked the myth that many high-growth industries in the GCC, especially in the energy sector, are mainly dominated by men. The UAE’s efforts to empower women and the post-empowerment phase has become a model for many countries in the region and the world, not only for the achievements Emirati women have made in all areas, but also because the role that women play in Emirati society is always evolving. This is evident by the position that the UAE has achieved in the international index of treating women with respect, and in female education. Emirati women have also achieved advanced positions in the political, economic, and social fields, which are on par with many developed countries. The UAE has achieved first position in the Arab world and twelfth internationally in the World Competitiveness Report 2014-2015. It has also maintained its first position among Arab countries and fourteenth globally in the World Happiness Report. Al Mehairi noted that the UAE ranked first in the Arab World in bridging the gap between genders according to the Global Gender Gap report 2013. In the same report, the UAE ranked first in the Arab world in wage equality between women and men for similar work. 50% of the UAE population are women. 71% of the university graduates are Emirati women. 66% of the UAE government sector workforce are women. Over 17% of the National Federal Council are women. There are 4 female minsters, and four female diplomats in Spain, Montenegro, Sweden, and a Consul General in China. The UAE is the first Arab country to require by law that women are represented on a board of directors. Women’s contribution to economic growth has increased by over 35%. “What Emirati women have achieved and are achieving is due to the vision of our leadership and the strategy of our country. Once we have achieved this, we will keep going and work even harder to enable Emirati women to become leaders on a global stage and a role model for others. We are in a new stage of empowerment. Today, the post-empowerment phase means that women are now empowering society, to present a brighter image of the women of the UAE, with their beliefs and humanitarian convictions that are derived from Islam and its teachings, and from Arab traditions and customs. We are moving with determination to succeed. Failure is not an option,” said Al Mehairi. Al Mehairi ntoed that DEWA has also debunked some of the prevailing assumptions in the energy sector. DEWA has demonstrated its commitment to its employees, and its efforts to provide an ideal and stimulating work environment for working women, in adherence to the third criterion of the Human Resources Law that emphasises the need to care for people, and reward and recognise their efforts and achievements, which make them feel more motivated and loyal to their employers. “During the past few years, the Women’s Committee at DEWA took a number of effective steps that helped to empower female employees and promote their satisfaction and happiness, by encouraging positive interaction and establishing a stimulating work environment by adopting an approach that balances between their working and personal lives. ‬ ‬ Al Mehairi said that DEWA provides a stimulating work environment, which supports gender equality, and equal opportunities in employment, continuing education, training, bonuses, promotions, and scholarships. “Through the support of DEWA’s management, represented by His Excellency Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD and CEO of DEWA, the Women’s Committee has adopted a comprehensive approach that explores the different aspects that matter to women, such as self-development, and psychological, professional, educational, healthcare, and family development, as well as environmental sustainability. We aim to translate these into plans and programmes that align with the Committee’s scope of work and its objectives. These efforts aim to develop women’s personal and life skills to prepare them to deal with the different kinds of challenges and benefits of post-empowerment. In line with the vision of the Government of Dubai to improve working standards in government to world-class levels, and its commitment to its employees and its efforts to provide an ideal and stimulating work environment for working mothers, DEWA seeks to increase the happiness of its female staff and encourage them to do their best through stimulating initiatives that make them feel more motivated and loyal to their work,” she added. “DEWA plays a key role in empowering working women. This is reflected in its practices and strategies. A total of 1,460 women work in DEWA in all departments and operations, and 76% of the total female workforce are Emiratis. 336 currently work in technical and engineering positions, while 771 work in other roles. There are 248 female employees in senior managerial positions,” explained Al Mehairi. Al Mehairi said that four female employees at DEWA have secured scholarships in 2014, in addition to new scholarship opportunities in renewable energy that are being evaluated. There are 173 fresh graduates and trainees at DEWA, in addition to 101 graduates in engineering and other specialised areas. 30 Emirati female staff have participated in the leadership programmes at Harvard in the USA and the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore. DEWA has created a balanced work environment for women with effective implementation of policies and regulations. This has helped women to strike a work-life balance to ensure their long-term retention at DEWA. For example, DEWA introduced flexible working hours for female employees working in technical field and in some administrative roles, depending on their families’ conditions and needs. This also includes adjusting working hours of mothers and fathers as well, whose children are enrolled at DEWA’s nurseries outside their physical places of work. To achieve its vision to become a sustainable world-class utility, DEWA is keen to maintain the highest standards in health and safety for its female employees. For example, DEWA provided health and safety training for more than 450 female employees in 2014 and organised a workshop on positive energy in the workplace. In addition there are few cases of female returnees who took career breaks for personal or medical reasons, and were offered the chance to resume their work with equal opportunities for career development and promotion. These improvements helped achieve an overall satisfaction rate for female employees of 82% compared to 79% for their male counterparts, which proves that DEWA didn’t only succeed in establishing a female-friendly environment, but also maintained its top international position compared with similar utilities. DEWA has allocated dedicated parking spaces for female employees at DEWA offices next to the nurseries, to provide the highest levels of comfort and security. Female employees get special leave in addition to those stipulated in the HR Law of Dubai Government for both genders. A nursing employee is authorised to leave work for up to two hours every working day to feed her infant for up to four months. A female employee gets air tickets for eligible family members to accompany her on a training trip exceeding six months. Also, a female national employee travelling overseas also receives an air ticket for a family member to accompany her on business trips or training of whatsoever duration. Air tickets of family members or companions are the same class of travel of the employee. Al Mehairi noted that DEWA established the Women’s Committee in 2010 to help achieve balance between professional and social lives of female employees. To help achieve this goal, DEWA established its nurseries and has the largest number of nurseries compared to other government departments in Dubai. DEWA’s nurseries can accommodate up to 170 children. The nurseries are well-equipped with highly-qualified female Emirati staff. There also have supervisors, nurses, and child-care assistants. DEWA is planning to increase the capacity of these nurseries in the future. DEWA has dedicated areas for ladies at its service centres. Over 11,000 female customers benefit from them. DEWA has supported over 45 female employees through its mass wedding initiative, and over 35 female employees to perform Hajj. “We are on track to achieve all our objectives to beat our deadline to achieve the strategic goal that the UAE has set within the UAE Vision 2021 to be one of the best countries in the world in terms of development and happiness, on the Golden Jubilee of the Union. At this point, I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude and thanks to our prudent leadership and to the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, for the achievements and exceptional levels of development we have reached over the years,” concluded Al Mehairi. DEWA had a stand at the 4th Arab Women Leadership Forum to educate visitors about its initiatives and programmes in energy and water conservation, and highlighted the important role women can play in saving energy and water.