The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, known as UN Women, is partnering with the private sector to boost women's employment in the hospitality industry in the Middle East and North Africa. The goal is to increase the current 9% of women in the workforce to 20% by 2030. This initiative was launched on the sidelines of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly in New York.
The partnership with UN Women is part of a broader initiative to promote women's employment in the region. The initiative, called "Supporting Women's Economic Empowerment" (SWEE), aims to support 9,050 women in accessing job opportunities in the hospitality sector by 2030. This will be achieved through a partnership with "Diversity", one of the companies of "Soline", and other partners in the hospitality sector.
According to Susan Mikhail, Director of Women's Economic Empowerment in Green Economy, STEM, and Care Economy at UN Women, the partnership will provide a roadmap to support women's transition from skills acquisition to job opportunities. The goal is to increase women's participation in the workforce in the hospitality sector, which is expected to grow in the Middle East and North Africa.
The partnership aims to address the low representation of women in the workforce in the Middle East and North Africa, which has remained at around 20% for over two decades. In the hospitality sector, women make up only 9% of the workforce in the Middle East, compared to a global average of 56%. The initiative will provide training and job opportunities for women in the hospitality sector.
A 90-day pilot program has been launched in the United Arab Emirates, which aims to develop a model that can be replicated and scaled up in the hospitality sector in the Middle East and North Africa. The program will provide training and job opportunities for women in the hospitality sector. The goal is to increase women's access to decent work and career advancement opportunities.
The initiative is part of a broader approach to promote women's employment in the region. The SWEE initiative aims to bring together the efforts of the private sector, policy reforms, strategic investments, and initiatives to create job opportunities. In the Middle East and North Africa, 901 companies have signed up to the Women's Empowerment Principles, which demonstrates a growing commitment to promoting gender equality in the workplace.
The SWEE initiative has set a goal to increase women's employment in the Middle East and North Africa by 5% by 2030. The initiative has secured 25 million euros in funding, including a 10 million euro contribution from the European Union. The goal is to create an additional 500,000 job opportunities for women in the region.
Key points
- UN Women aims to increase women's employment in the hospitality sector in the Middle East and North Africa from 9% to 20% by 2030.
- The initiative will provide training and job opportunities for 9,050 women in the hospitality sector by 2030.
- The SWEE initiative has secured 25 million euros in funding to support women's employment in the Middle East and North Africa.
