UAE residents and citizens have until the survey closes to shape the country’s next major gender policy framework, and the UAE Gender Balance Council is asking them to do exactly that.
The council has opened a nationwide survey collecting perspectives from people across all seven emirates as it develops the UAE Gender Balance Strategy 2027-2031. Available in Arabic and English, the questionnaire takes less than 10 minutes to complete and keeps participant responses confidential. Men and women of different ages, professional backgrounds and life stages are all invited to take part.
The questions touch on areas that shape daily life in concrete ways. Participants are asked about career development and economic participation, financial security, and access to social care and quality-of-life services. The survey also asks how emerging technologies and artificial intelligence are changing the jobs people hold and the skills they will need. That focus on technology reflects the council’s recognition that the UAE’s economic landscape is shifting fast, and that gender balance policy has to keep pace.
What changed in how this strategy is being built: rather than relying solely on institutional data, the council is combining public survey responses with quantitative analysis, direct stakeholder consultations and sector-specific expertise. The goal is to identify which issues deserve priority attention in the 2027-2031 period and how policy should address them in practice.
The timing matters. This is not simply a review of current conditions. The strategy development process is designed to anticipate how changing work environments, new technologies and shifting economic pressures could reshape opportunity and participation in the years ahead. The council has framed the moment as a chance to reconsider what gender balance means as the nature of work itself transforms.
By opening the survey to all residents and citizens, the council is casting a wide net, seeking direct evidence about how different groups experience economic and social life rather than working from assumptions. That breadth is deliberate.
The survey is one part of a larger effort. Its findings will sit alongside other research and ongoing consultations with various stakeholder groups. Together, public input, expert analysis and sectoral knowledge are intended to produce a strategy grounded in both lived experience and institutional understanding.
Whether the responses ultimately shift policy priorities in meaningful ways for working families and job-seekers across the emirates remains the open question as the consultation period runs its course.