Dubai holds 'Gender Balance' awards; every winner is a man

Dubai gender balance awards spoiler: no women won The Dubai government gave out awards recognizing efforts to support gender equality and not a single woman won.

The Government of Dubai held a “Gender Balance Index” awards ceremony on Sunday -- and all the winners were men.

“We are proud of the success of Emirati women and their role is central to shaping the future of the country,” Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of the Emirate of Dubai, said of the awards, according to the official Dubai Media Office. “Gender balance has become a pillar in our governmental institutions.”

The United Arab Emirates, or U.A.E., is an absolute monarchy in the Arabian Peninsula. Dubai is the most populous of the seven emirates that form the country, each of which is ruled by a hereditary leader.

Dubai’s gender balance awards were offered in three categories: best personality supporting gender balance, best federal authority supporting gender balance and the best gender balance initiative. An honour was also given for the best government entity supporting gender balance. They were received by two male Emirati royals -- one of whom is Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s brother -- as well as two male government officials.

At the ceremony, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum also “recognised the efforts” of one woman, according to the Dubai Media Office. That was his eldest daughter, Sheikha Manal bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who heads the U.A.E.’s Gender Balance Council.

“The Council was praised for its exceptional projects that helped achieve the nation’s goals of gender balance,” a Government of Dubai Media Office statement said.

That statement also mentioned that Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum used the occasion to express “his appreciation for the sincere efforts” of another female royal: Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, who serves as the president of the U.A.E.’s Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood as well as the supreme chairwoman of the country’s Family Development Foundation.

It is unclear if those two women -- or any others, for that matter -- were nominated for awards. The Government of Dubai Media office did not immediately respond to a request for more information.

The World Economic Forum’s 2018 Global Gender Gap report places the U.A.E. 121 out of 149 countries -- the third highest rank in the Middle East and North Africa after Israel and Tunisia, but well behind most countries in Europe, Asia and North and South America. In its report, the World Economic Forum said the U.A.E. has seen “a reduction of the (gender) gap with regard to legislators, senior officials and managers and healthy life expectancy, counterbalanced by a widening gender gap in wage equality.” The Global Gender Gap report ranks Canada at 16.