UAE Ambassador to the United Nations Lana Zaki Nusseibeh has been elected to be the president of UN Women Executive Board to be the first Arab woman to take this position since its formation.

The UN Women Executive board has been formed in 2010 to promote gender equality and to end all forms of discrimination against women in all over the world.

In her acceptance speech, Ambassador Lana expressed her gratitude to the previous president, Ambassador Mohamed Khaled Khiari, Permanent Representative of Tunisia to the United Nations, for his committed leadership and excellent contributions during his term, as well as to Phumzile Mllambo-Nguka, Executive Director of UN-Women, for her dynamic leadership of UN women.

She also thanked the members of the Executive Board for electing her as president for 2017, and said she looked forward to working with the Board and UN Women on promoting their priorities for the year.

Ambassador Nusseibeh highlighted the UAE’s important achievements towards attaining gender equality and the empowerment of women, and noted that “gender equality is of paramount importance to the UAE.” She underscored that, saying, “The Constitution of the UAE guarantees equal rights for both women and men, and underpins the fundamental belief that women and men are equal partners in society.”

She noted that a key aspect of women’s advancement has been due to a steady focus on women’s political participation, and that today, women comprise 17.5 per cent of the Federal National Council. She mentioned that Dr Amal Abdullah Al Qubaisi, Speaker of the Federal National Council, was the first woman in the UAE and in the Arab world to lead a national assembly. She added that women constitute 28 per cent of the UAE Cabinet, holding diverse and important portfolios.

Ambassador Nusseibeh emphasised the importance of partnerships in advancing gender equality and empowering women.