President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s approval of the amendments to the Labour law, granting the employees in the private sector a paid leave to care for the child, is a hugely praiseworthy step that shows the welfare of the citizens and residents remains the prime objective of the leadership.

Incidentally, the UAE will be the first Arab country to grant parental leave to employees in the private sector.

The decree will surely further cement family cohesion and stability, enhance UAE’s position and competitiveness in the field of gender balance, and encourage young talents to work in the private sector.

The paid parental leave is the latest benefit for employees in the private sector.

There is reason for cheer as the decree stipulates that the employee in the private sector shall be granted a paid “parental leave” for a period of five working days to care for the child, due from the date of the child’s birth until the completion of six months.

The step strengthens the position of the UAE in the field of gender balance and enhances its efforts to create a competitive model that supports the work environment in the private sector and it is also aligned with the UAE strategy to prepare for the next fifty years.

Several schemes have been initiated aimed at ensuring welfare for various sections of the people.

For example, the Dubai Women Establishment (DWE), in collaboration with the Supreme Legislation Committee of Dubai, has launched the Women-Specific Legislations Lab that seeks to develop new legislations to support the enhanced socio-economic participation of women in the emirate.

The initiative will address various aspects related to women’s development including their active inclusion in society, personal status law, women in the economy, the protection of women, and health and wellbeing.

This initiative translates the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to enhance government performance by strengthening partnerships between government entities.

As Mona Al Marri, Chairperson of the Board of Directors of Dubai Women Establishment, points out, the Women-Specific Legislations Lab, which has the goal of enhancing the legal framework required to support the advancement and welfare of women in Dubai, will work to review and monitor the implementation of women-specific legislations and develop new legislations focused on women.

On another front, the Ministry of Community Development, MoCD, has announced the beginning of the implementation of “Kheta” platform in cooperation with “Ynmo” in Saudi Arabia under the supervision of “Ibtikar” Edu Tech Solutions starting from the new academic year 2020-2021 as part of the programmes and plans provided by the ministry to support people of determination and their families during the novel coronavirus pandemic-COVID 19 and the changes in the patterns of education.

The ministry will begin training all the staff of the centres on using the platform from the beginning of this month in preparation for the new academic year that will be launched differently due to the repercussions of the COVID 19, pandemic.

The “Kheta” platform will help facilitate and overcome all the obstacles of the educational and rehabilitation services of the people of determination, and at the same time will support their families remotely through the development of educational and rehabilitation programmes that are easy to share with the family to be implemented at home.