UAE Leads MENA Region in Gender Equality with Major Leap in Global Rankings

The UAE has made notable strides towards its gender equality commitments, moving from 74th to 69th in the World Economic Forum’s 2025 Global Gender Gap Report. In addition to solidifying the UAE as the top country in the MENA region, growth on the world stage for gender equity is significant given its expanding influence in advancing women’s rights and representation.

One of the most important achievements of the UAE is full gender parity in parliamentary representation putting them with the leaders of the world such as Mexico, Nicaragua, and Rwanda. The global score for political empowerment was strong with a ranking of 32 in the world and an impressive score of 37.2% establishing new parity for the Middle East.

However, gender progress in the UAE is not limited to politics. While world leadership positions for women continue to decline, UAE women achieved a 4.5% increase year-on-year in female promotion to executive levels according to LinkedIn’s Economic Graph in the WEG report.

Women in the workforce overall has been on the rise with a 2% increase annually, including an increase in female hiring. These numbers indicate that the country is putting significant energy towards expanding women’s empowerment across the board.

The report continued to highlight that women in the UAE are 28% more likely than men to…