migrant women in the United Arab Emirates

More documents

Recommendations

Info

1. Overview of the socio-economic context 1.1. The United Arab Emirates: built on oil The United Arab Emirates is a federation of seven Emirates: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm-al-Quwain, Ras al-Khaimah, al-Fujairah. The federation was established in 1971, a mere nine years after oil began to be exported. Until then, the Emirates had no boundaries, no roads, no newspapers, no telephones, and no electricity (Tomkinson, 1975; Taryam, 1987; Codrai, 1990). In a short time, oil has made the United Arab Emirates one of the richest countries in the world. In 1980, the United Arab Emirates was rated the wealthiest country in the world with a per capita GNP of US$28’000 — in fact, closer to US$100’000 for citizens (Peck 1986; Abdulla, 1985). “Oil income accounted for 88 per cent of total Government revenue over the period 1975–85” (Faris, 1996). Oil has given the United Arab Emirates the opportunity to break regional and international records in urban development and economic growth. On the socio-economic level, the United Arab Emirates is a striking picture of contradictions. Its advanced urban development (80–90 per cent of the population) coexists with some of the oldest systems of social interaction, gender-segregation, and tribalism. In the United Arab Emirates today tribalism, Islamism, urbanism, modernism, consumerism and the welfare state are all vital components of the socio-institutional structure. The development in human resources is impressive. The United Arab Emirates that, in the 1950s and early ‘60s, sent pupils to neighbouring Arab countries due to the lack of schools had, by 1990, succeeded in reaching the highest literacy levels in the region. In 1970, “the total number of pupils, boys and girls, was 27’745 and rose to 107’604 in 1982 and to 193’633 in the following year” (Taryam, 1987: 264). According to the 1995 UN Development Report, the United Arab Emirates has the “highest level of female literacy in the Arab world — 68 per cent — and overall illiteracy fell from 56.55 per cent in 1975 to 16.8 per cent in 1992. The Government is close to achieving 100 per cent literacy for both men and women by the year 2000”. (United Arab Emirates Yearbook, 1999). Women represent over 80 per cent of total enrolment in the United Arab Emirates national universities, and the State’s educational policies openly encourage and promote female education. In 1970, educated females represented only four per cent of the population; in 1993, the proportion had reached 80 per cent (Al Kassadi, 2000). The number of female students registered at United Arab Emirates schools has increased 14-fold: statistics show that approximately 270’000 female students were registered in the academic year 1996–97 compared with 19’000 in 1972–73. Of 14’104 students attending local universities during the 1996–97 academic year, 11’125 were female and 2’979 were male. The 1975 census lists 3’005 females with a first university degree or equivalent. By the 1995 census that figure had risen to a staggering 61’496 (United Arab Emirates Yearbook, 1999). 1.2. Women in the United Arab Emirates’ workforce Traditionally, United Arab Emirates women, as in most Arab Islamic societies, had their own order in the “harem” or the women’s separate sphere. Socialization in gender roles was clear and divided, with women taking their roles inside the household and men holding the power both inside and outside the household. Before the oil era, the realm of the private versus public was clearly divided. Nowadays, women increasingly participate in the work place and share the public sphere with men. United Arab Emirates female nationals have participated in the work force since 1970, when the United Arab Emirates 2 UAE Working Paper_1
was established. Since 1985, the number of female nationals participation in the work force has increased, as has the number of foreign women working in the United Arab Emigrates. However, the labour force participation of women is still only 11.6 % as compared to 88.34 % for men. Table 1: Changes in workforce participation, by gender and nationality Workforce 1975 1985 1995 N per cent N per cent N per cent Total 293’788 100.00 683’825 100.00 1’335’894 100.00 Women 9’803 3.30 65’415 9.70 15’5790 11.60 Men 283’985 96.70 618’410 90.43 1’180’104 88.34 Nationals 44’631 15.20 68’319 10.00 121’291 9.10 National women 1’086 0.37 3’997 0.58 15’729 1.180 National men 43’545 14.82 64’322 9.41 105’562 7.90 Expatriates 249’157 84.80 615’506 90.00 1’214’603 90.90. Expatriate women 8’717 2.90 61’418 8.98 140’061 10.48 Expatriate men 240’440 81.84 554’088 81.03 1’074’542 80.43 Source: Ministry of Planning, Population Censuses 1986, 1997; Labour Report 2000, Ministry of Labour. United Arab Emirates women are mostly employed in the federal and local Government sector, holding over 40 per cent of the total jobs. In 1980, 68 per cent of the United Arab Emirates female work force was working in the public sector. By 1990, this average rose to 94.1 per cent (Adel Al-Kassadi, 2000). Yet despite Government support, the number of female nationals lags far behind women migrants working in the United Arab Emirates. Table 1 highlights the growing dominance of migrant workers in the United Arab Emirates work force 1 . An abundance of capital on one hand and a dearth of domestic labour on the other have characterized the development of United Arab Emirates. Imported labour compensates for poor human resources but this compensation has shaken the demographic makeup of the country and created a very vulnerable social structure. Table 2 below shows clearly how non-nationals predominate in all sectors of the economy, especially the private sector that is considered the most dynamic. According, to this table, the majority of nationals are employed in the federal Government (60 per cent), but not in the local Government. When we calculate the amount of paid jobs, the percentage of nationals is insignificant (0.6 per cent). 1 The 1995 Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) report on the United Arab Emirates sees this dominance as a major risk to internal stability: “One of the potential threats to internal security is the minority status of the indigenous population. Despite efforts to redress the balance by introducing programs to employ more United Arab Emirates nationals, this problem is not going to go away and is likely to get worse” (Economist Intelligence Unit, 1995–96:7). UAE Working Paper_1 3
Page 1: GENPROM Working Paper No. 10 Series
Page 5 and 6: Contents Page Foreword.............
Page 7: Acknowledgements A special thank yo
Page 12 and 13: Table 2: Changes in the workforce (
Page 14 and 15: Table 4: Economically active people
Page 16 and 17: United Arab Emirates citizenship is
Page 18 and 19: Table 6: Domestic workers in the Un
Page 20 and 21: 2. A growing trend of foreign femal
Page 22 and 23: Even though no official information
Page 24 and 25: Nationality 1997 1998 1999 2000 200
Page 26 and 27: 3. The situation of women migrant w
Page 28 and 29: exercises. Happily, the foreign fem
Page 30 and 31: Households where more than one lang
Page 32 and 33: in their home countries. One of the
Page 34 and 35: Benefits Generosity is a strong soc
Page 36 and 37: itself 22 . The least frequently re
Page 38 and 39: The second Filippina seemed very co
Page 40 and 41: 4. Structural and legislative frame
Page 42 and 43: Legal context As stated previously,
Page 44 and 45: employment of the foreign female do
Page 46 and 47: 5. Private initiatives for protecti
Page 48 and 49: Three domestics were interviewed th
Page 50 and 51: 6. Institutional framework 6.1. Bod
Page 52 and 53: 6.7. Migrant workers’ assessment
Page 54 and 55: Embassies and labour offices level
Page 56 and 57: ILO Programs and studies The ILO ne
Page 58 and 59: Goodson, Rodger. 1993. “The Attra
Page 61 and 62:
Appendix 1 Profile of the foreign f
show all

migrant women in the United Arab Emirates

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?