• 76.8% of the female adult population is literate
• There is 79.9% female secondary school enrollment
• 72 % of tertiary students are female (1997)
• 42.3% of tertiary students in natural sciences are female
• 14% of teachers at the tertiary level are women (1992)
• 6% of Internet users are women
• 19.5 % of the workforce is female (1995)
• Women’s traditional occupations are teaching and medicine. 100% of nursery school teachers, 55% of primary school, and 65% of intermediate and secondary school teachers are women. One of every three doctors is a woman and 81% of the nursing staff is female.

Gender Policy Framework

• The government of the UAE has been supportive of policies and laws that are positive to women. However, women and their rights and roles are still positioned within the context of the family “as the basis society,” as stipulated in the UAE Constitution.
• The Social Affairs section of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs is a government body addressing women’s issues.
• The UAE Women’s Federation, headed by the country’s First Lady, is concerned about women's working conditions and education, and also lobbies for changes in personal law.
• In 1995, the UAE Cabinet provisionally extended paid maternity leave in the private sector to three months at full pay, up from 45 days; up to one year's leave at half pay with a second year's leave at quarter pay.
• A 1996 federal decree ratified the International Labor Organization (ILO) General Conference Equal Remuneration Convention of 1951.
• A 1996 symposium was held to promote the rights of women in the labor force.

Non-Government Gender and IT Activities

• Non-governmental organizations have few freedoms to associate and organize in the UAE. The government does support women’s associations to provide social welfare services, but no technology-related training activities organized by these groups are known.