Prime Highlights
- Sheikha Wafa says women’s leadership is vital to the Gulf’s future economy.
- She urges greater investment in education, entrepreneurship, and gender equality.
Key Facts
- Technology, fintech, healthcare, and renewable energy are key growth sectors for women.
- The UAE’s women-focused policies have helped boost female leadership and economic participation.
Background
The UAE’s approach can be seen in measures such as the UAE Gender Balance Council and the increasing number of women holding senior leadership positions. But she warns the region still needs deeper investment in education, entrepreneurship and institutional reform to fully unlock that potential.
Sheikha Wafa shared these views with Khaleej Times after attending the Women’s Gateway to the Digital Economy Conference in Dubai. Women, she noted, have become increasingly central to the Gulf’s economic transformation, yet structural barriers continue to hold back their full participation across the Arab world.
Governments, in her view, need to move past symbolic gestures. She wants gender equity built directly into national policies, labour laws and institutional structures, backed by accountability mechanisms that track gender outcomes at a national level.
Technology and the digital economy offer the most scalable opportunities for women, Sheikha Wafa said, largely because the sector carries fewer physical and geographic barriers to entry. She also named healthcare, life sciences, education, financial technology, sustainability and renewable energy as sectors ripe for stronger female leadership.
Sheikha Wafa said long-term empowerment depends on strong education and innovation ecosystems. She called for greater focus on critical thinking, digital skills, and entrepreneurship in education, along with improved access to business support programmes and diverse funding options for aspiring entrepreneurs.
According to her, women can pursue both professional and personal goals when the right support structures are in place. She said professional ambitions and family life can go hand in hand.
She attributed the UAE’s progress in women’s empowerment to its long-term development strategy, which integrates gender equality into national priorities. The UAE’s approach can be seen in measures such as the UAE Gender Balance Council and the increasing number of women holding senior leadership positions.
Looking ahead, Sheikha Wafa was direct. The Gulf economy’s future, she said, rests on women’s leadership, and sustained investment in their capabilities will shape how competitive and prosperous the region remains.
