Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) attaches great importance to women’s empowerment, and provides a conducive and positive work environment that supports female employees and helps them balance their personal and professional lives. This gives them full confidence to harness their potentials to achieve success, excellence and contribute to building the nation and preparing future generations.
“In the year of Zayed, we remember the late Sheikh Zayed’s efforts in women empowerment. Our celebration of International Women’s Day during the Year of Zayed reminds us of the efforts of women empowerment in the UAE, which were initiated by the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who was a strong supporter of women in all areas. Our wise leadership, represented by His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE; His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, are continuing the late Sheikh Zayed’s journey. They are contributing to creating an environment that empowers women and helps them use their creative abilities. This allowed Emirati women to occupy the highest positions in all sectors, and contribute efficiently to all the UAE’s development efforts,” said HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA.
“While we appreciate and acknowledge the effective role of women in building and developing society and serving the country and contributing to its development, we emphasise the key role that DEWA plays in empowering women in the workplace, so that they empower society as a whole. We are fully committed to supporting women, at the highest levels of excellence,” added Al Tayer.
Secure and stable work environment for women
“On International Women’s Day, we extend our sincere thanks and gratitude to the wise leadership of the UAE, and the female leaders in the UAE, ‘the Mother of the Nation,’ Her Highness Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Chairwoman of the General Women’s Union, Supreme Chairwoman of the Family Development Foundation, Her Highness Sheikha Hind bint Maktoum bin Juma Al Maktoum, wife of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and Her Highness Sheikha Manal bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, President of the UAE Gender Balance Council, President of Dubai Women’s Establishment and wife of His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, for their efforts in supporting and encouraging women and providing them with all the necessary tools to succeed. I also thank DEWA’s leadership, headed by HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD and CEO of DEWA, for the unlimited support of the Women’s Committee since its inception. DEWA provides its female staff with a secure, stable and developed working environment that helps them unleash their potentials,” said Khawla Al Mehairi, Executive Vice President of Strategy and Government Communications and Chairperson of the Women’s Committee at DEWA.
A stable working environment reflects positively on women’s social lives
Amal Koshak, Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Communications at DEWA, explained that DEWA provides all the necessary support to its female employees, and works to ensure a happy, stimulating, safe and stable working environment for them, which reflects positively on their professional and personal lives. DEWA is committed to work on the self-development, psychological, and vocational skills of its female employees, to help them use opportunities, and succeed in leadership, management and technical positions.
79% of DEWA’s female workforce are Emirati Nationals
“DEWA employs 1,894 female staff across all its divisions, 788 of whom work in engineering and other technical domains. 78.9% of DEWA’s female workforce are Emirati Nationals. Female staff were given over 38,000 training opportunities in the past three years in addition to 149 scholarships. Up to the end of last year, 249 female fresh graduates trained in DEWA as of the end of 2017. In 2017, DEWA’s female staff headed 13 out of DEWA’s 27 social initiatives,” said Maryam Al-Mutaiwei, Vice President of Human Resources.
“On International Women’s Day, I congratulate all the Emirati women who have made great efforts in the path of excellence and success, thanks to the support of our wise leadership. In the Year of Zayed, we remember the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who prioritised women and enhanced their role in the society, making them a strategic partner in the development process, and laying the foundation for enabling them to compete in all fields. This approach is also adopted by our wise leadership, which provides an environment that contributes to enhancing women’s roles to help them achieve their potentials and build future generations. This allows them to achieve accomplishments, and successes and fulfil their mission,” said Fatima Deemas, Senior Manager of Internal Communications and Vice Chairperson of DEWA’s Women’s Committee.
Training female employees
“DEWA provides courses and training programmes for employees, in general, and for female employees, in particular. DEWA’s training programmes and scholarships have contributed to providing staff with the skills and experience to do their jobs, shape their scientific orientations, and help them in their careers, to contribute to achieving DEWA’s vision and ambitious plans,” said Fatima Al Marzooqi, Senior Manager of Learning and Development at DEWA.
Nurseries to support working mothers
DEWA is one of the first government institutions to establish nurseries to support working mothers. Today, it has the largest number of nurseries compared to other government institutions in Dubai, with a capacity of 175 children.
Exchange of experiences with local and international organisations
The work done by DEWA Women’s Committee does not only comprise of organising internal activities, but also involves the exchange of skills and experiences with a number of local and international organisations that also work to empower women. The committee works to strengthen its relations with other female organisations, and organisations that support children and families, to achieve social development. DEWA Women’s Committee strives to enhance communication and cooperation with private organisations that specialise in social educational, and charitable work to enhance their contribution, and role in supporting the community, through the empowerment of women.
Distinguished events
DEWA Women’s Committee is keen to participate in various local and international events, and organises lectures and workshops related to health, safety, the environment, sustainability, family life, the art of dealing with people, self-development, family management, organising social gatherings and meaningful recreational programmes.
National and traditional activities
The Women’s Committee organises activities that consolidate national identity, contribute to women empowerment, and enhance women’s role in society. In the Year of Giving, DEWA organised the 3rd Emirati Women’s Forum, under the theme, ‘Women are partners in giving,’ during Emirati Women’s Day. A large number of women leaders and officials from the public and private sectors in the UAE took part in the forum. The Committee also participates in many national events, such as organising the activities of Mid-Sha’aban, and World Heritage Day, in addition to educational workshops and lectures, in health, safety, environment, sustainability, family, social etiquette, art of dealing with people and self-development. These include planning for marriage and reducing its costs, workshops on self-esteem, family management, organising social gatherings, and meaningful recreational programmes for female employees.
DEWA Women’s Committee also organises several activities on national and international occasions, such as World Health Day, World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development, World Breastfeeding Week, World Heart Day, World Osteoporosis Day and Breast Cancer Awareness Month, International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and Children. In addition, the Committee organises specialised workshops in the protection of children from violence, whether physical, psychological, educational or otherwise, in cooperation with the institutions responsible.
Health-related programmes and activities
DEWA Women’s Committee organises several awareness and health activities, and lectures that cover topics such as good nutrition, maintaining a healthy lifestyle, heart health, cervical and breast cancer prevention, mother and child’s health, caring for children with special needs, women’s health during pregnancy, dealing with diabetic children, spine integrity, prevention of osteoporosis, among others.
Encouraging women to play sports
The Women’s Committee encourages female employees to practise physical activities and provides various opportunities for them to practise sports. The committee formed female sports teams that take part in various competitions in different games including basketball, football, handball, volleyball, swimming, bowling, and table tennis.
“The Committee encourages DEWA employees to make exercise a part of their daily life to achieve the desired balance, maintain a healthy lifestyle, and promote a positive working environment. The fifth Sheikha Hind Women’s Sports Tournament, in 2017, witnessed huge participation from DEWA’s female employees. 101 female employees competed in 10 individual and group games, achieving advanced results. In the individual games, Suad Abdulla won the gold medal in the 3,000 metre Road Race for Emirati contestants. In cycling for Emirati contestants, Suhaila Al Muhairi came first. Aisha Eisa Al Zarooni came second in chess for Emirati contestants. Amina Aslam came third in the expatriate category. In table tennis, Rawdha Al Mansouri came second place. Michel Villar in second place in the expatriate category for badminton. In the group games, DEWA’s team came second in basketball, and third in both volleyball and handball. Inas Abdul Hamid received the Best Player award in the basketball tournament. In addition, DEWA ranked second in the Best Corporation award,” said Khuloud Al Ali, Deputy Senior Manager of PR and Media at DEWA, and head of the DEWA women’s sports team.
In addition to the Sheikha Hind Women’s Sports Tournament, the women’s sports team took part in many sports activities in 2017. These included the Dubai Fitness Challenge, the obstacles race in Dubai Ladies Club, Sharjah Ladies Run, Sand Storm, and Dubai Health Authority Badminton Competition, among others.
‘DEWA’s Youth Council’ – Emirati youth creating the future
Fatima Al Jokar, Legal Adviser at DEWA and Head of DEWA’s Youth Council, noted that the Council is the best evidence of DEWA’s support for the youth, and Al Tayer’s commitment to empower youth. Al Jokar highlighted that the Council seeks to achieve many objectives to enhance the development process at DEWA, and implement its strategic objectives and basic values. One of the main objectives of the Council is to provide an incubator environment for the youth’s ideas, provide direct communication with them, and employ their outputs in to serve DEWA’s objectives. The council has 12 members with an equal number of males and females from different sectors.
“I extend my sincere gratitude to the senior management for their belief in our potentials as female engineers, especially after agreeing to establish a sub-committee under the umbrella of the Women’s Committee, to provide development and learning for female engineers in various engineering and technical fields so as to achieve more accomplishments and constructive initiatives. In the Year of Zayed I would like to emphasise that we are continuing in the path of excellence, success and innovation to achieve the top positions in various fields, locally and internationally. We will only be able to achieve through DEWA’s support, as it has always been a pioneer in its efforts to empower women professionally and socially,” said Asma Al Shamsi, Senior Manager of Transmission Civil Maintenance at DEWA.