Emirates

UAE National Chapter of the Unstereotype Alliance marks year since launch

DUBAI, 7th December, 2021 (WAM) — Company members of the UAE National Chapter of the Unstereotype Alliance came together to mark the first anniversary of the chapter’s launch at Terra, the Sustainability Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai, at an event that was organised by UN Women and the General Women’s Union.

Representatives of the nine founding members met for an afternoon packed with discussion panels and presentations that covered the challenges and opportunities when overcoming stereotypes in the workplace and accelerating action to eliminate these stereotypes from the perspective of business leaders.

The GCC results from the first-ever Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Census of the global marketing industry, run by the World Federation of Advertisers and analysed by Kantar was unveiled during the anniversary event. It showed that most respondents (58%) believe that their organisations are actively taking steps to become more inclusive and diverse. However, the census showed that women remain vastly underrepresented in senior positions in the industry. Also, indicative average pay data suggested a large pay gap at C suite level and 24% of the surveyed women said they faced obstacles in their career progression.

A Zayed University commissioned research project on Gender Stereotyping in Gulf-focused Advertising, focusing on the portrayal of men and women as central figures in adverts, was also presented during the event. It showed significant stereotyping of women, who are more likely than men to be depicted in adverts of home products (85.7 %), food/ cooking products (73.9%) and body care products (82.1 %). On the other hand, men are more likely to be depicted in non-familial roles (87%) compared to 13% in familial roles (fathers/husbands).

On the occasion, Noura Al Suwaidi, Director-General of the General Women’s Union, the UAE’s leading entity dedicated to women’s empowerment, said that the UAE Government empowers women to play an equal role in public life, business, and professions across all sectors and sets an excellent example for achieving gender balance, so it is important that how they are portrayed in media and advertising is reflective of this fact.

"Media and advertising have greater responsibilities and should keep up with the status of women and their real roles in society." She concluded.

Dr. Mouza Al Shehhi, Director of the UN Women Liaison Office for the GCC, said "Stereotypes stifle women’s and girls’ voices and limit their progress and visibility. We cannot achieve progress on important UN Women agendas such as women’s leadership, economic empowerment and Women, peace and security without combating harmful and unfair stereotypes. The GCC media and advertising sectors are among the fastest-growing globally, so the opportunity to have a tangible impact is significant. Today’s milestone celebration shows that we are making good progress and must persist till we can successfully eliminate harmful stereotypes in all media and content and broaden the representation of both men and women in nontraditional roles in media and advertising in the UAE."

Ali Khalil, Assistant Professor, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, commented, "Ending gender stereotyping in advertising plays a vital role in the fight against gender stereotyping in general, helps in women empowerment and the recognition of the important role of women in the society, and the workforce. Academic research is instrumental in providing thorough studies of the progress in eradicating gender stereotyping. More work should be done across the MENA region to keep an eye on the media content to ensure that stereotyping ends, and to raise societal awareness of the harm of stereotyping."

The UAE National Chapter of the Unstereotype Alliance, the first national chapter to launch in the Middle East and the sixth worldwide, has a core group of seven national and global companies – Etihad Aviation Group, Meta – Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Omnicom Media Group, Snap Inc., and Unilever – alongside the Advertising Business Group and the Dubai Lynx, the premier festival of creativity covering the MENA Region.

The Unstereotype Alliance provides a global platform for members with a shared commitment to achieving Sustainable Development Goal 5, gender equality. The National Chapters drive change locally, responding to specific culturally driven stereotypes, social customs, and attitudes. There are 10 Unstereotype Alliance National Chapters worldwide in Brazil, Japan, India, Kenya, Mexico, South Africa, Turkey, UAE, UK, and Australia.

Emirates

Integrated Transport Centre introduces smart Taxi-Top Billboard Initiative

ABU DHABI, 8th June, 2023 (WAM) — The Integrated Transport Centre (ITC) of the Department of Municipalities and Transport (DMT) in Abu Dhabi has announced the launch of the Smart Billboard project for taxi vehicles in collaboration with operating companies and the relevant strategic stakeholders.

This step is in line with the ITC’s efforts to deliver innovative and high-quality advertising content to the public. The initiative entails smart advertising billboards being planted on taxi rooftops to market products and services in collaboration with advertisers from local companies and businesses in the emirate of Abu Dhabi.

The ITC said that the project started with 50 taxi vehicles from the Tawasul Transport company, and intends to reach 100 taxi vehicles from the same company after the trial period is over. It is worth noting that the Emirate of Abu Dhabi is operating 6,400 taxis in total.

The Integrated Transport Centre explained that the initiative is in line with its commitment towards reinforcing digital transformation in the emirate of Abu Dhabi, and improving public access to its digital services system.

The ITC strives to fulfil future requirements and promote the vision of Abu Dhabi through investing in modern technologies that serve the community and create smarter cities in the Emirate, in terms of services and commercial practices. The project also aims to use new marketing and digital promotional strategies for these services, and to use cutting-edge technology to strengthen the digital marketing field by reaching various segments of society with efficient and creative marketing messages.

According to the ITC, setting up advertising billboards on taxi rooftops contributes to delivering diversified and engaging advertising content to passengers and pedestrians in accordance with the innovative advancements in the digital marketing field.

Furthermore, it improves the city's marketing communications and helps raise community awareness on various services, events, and activities. It also provides local businesses with the opportunity to promote and market their products and services.

Moreover, the digital billboards can be used to broadcast useful traffic safety tips to a large audience in a creative manner, as they use innovative technology to display content clearly in all kinds of weather conditions without distracting other drivers.

On the other hand, the initiative strengthens the collaboration with the private sector by creating new investment opportunities to promote the products and services of local businesses. It also helps the taxi industry utilise asset and diversifying revenue, thereby supporting local economy by enhancing the economic development in the Emirate.

Emirates

Saned urges entities in Sharjah to install ‘Aman’ safety system

SHARJAH, 8th June, 2023 (WAM) — Saned Integrated Facilities Management has urged all government and private entities, industrial and commercial facilities and residential buildings to install the early warning ‘Aman’ system, based on its objectives to provide the highest levels of safety in Sharjah,

The new system and device, implemented by Saned, is supervised by the Sharjah Prevention and Safety Authority. The device links fire systems in the facilities to the General Directorate of Civil Defense and Saned, with the goal to reduce response times to combat with fire hazards and emergencies.

Sultan Al Ketbi, CEO of Saned Facilities Management, stressed the need to install the early warning system ‘Aman’, which plays a great role in reducing response times for fire-related emergencies. The system works to monitor the validity of alarm and fire systems in facilities and ensure their effectiveness, which contributes to protecting lives and property and provides the highest levels of protection and safety in Sharjah.

Al Ketbi highlighted that the system has been successfully employed to aid in the early detection of fires; a tower in the Emirate of Sharjah recently benefited from the ‘Aman’ system and suffered no losses due to a recent fire emergency.

Al Ketbi added, "More than 7,753 Aman devices have been installed in various areas of Sharjah since the programme began. We are working diligently to ensure that all residential, commercial, and industrial facilities and areas in the Emirate are covered by the Aman programme, as it is mandatory for public safety."

He further explained, "We seek to reach 100% compliance from owners of real estate, facilities and amenities in Sharjah, to which the decision to install and connect a safety system to protect buildings from fires and accidents is in line with our goal to enhance the overall well being of all residing in the Emirate.”

Aman is an early warning system adopted in the Emirate of Sharjah to protect community members from fire hazards. The system is in direct contact with the Sharjah Civil Defense Authority and links to a control room that operates according to the highest international safety standards. In cooperation with the Sharjah Prevention and Safety Authority, the system strengthens the security and safety strategy of the Emirate of Sharjah and helps spread awareness of best practices in accident and fire prevention.

The system is managed by Saned Integrated Facilities Management, which is one of the projects of Sharjah Asset Management, the investment arm of the Government of Sharjah. Saned provides integrated facilities management, building maintenance and related technical services to commercial and government entities, in addition to energy management and sustainable initiatives. The Saned team also provides technical services specialised in the security and safety of facilities and amenities.

Emirates

UAE and Peru sign air services agreement

Lima, Peru, 8th June, 2023 (WAM) — The UAE and the Republic of Peru signed an air services agreement, with Mohammed Abdullah Al Shamsi, UAE Ambassador to the Republic of Peru, signing on behalf of the UAE and Gervasi Díaz, Minister of Foreign Affairs, representing Peru.

This agreement will open new horizons for cooperation between the two countries and promote intra-trade.

Al Shamsi pointed out that non-oil bilateral trade with Peru for 2022 amounted to US$800 million, and UAE investments in Peru over the last five years exceeded US$700 million, while intra-trade reached US$4.4 billion in the same period.

He added, "The Memorandum of Understanding for political consultations in 2009 and the visa waiver agreement between the two countries in 2019 have already been signed, and today we are signing the air services agreement. In the near future, we hope to sign an agreement to protect and promote investment and avoid double taxation, in addition to other agreements that are expected to be in the interest of our two peoples and in line with our common aspirations for further development and prosperity.”

Al Shamsi stressed that this agreement will contribute to the growth of trade exchange in a manner that supports the development agenda of the two countries, promotes the sustainability of their economies, and bolsters bilateral aviation ties.

He added, "This comes as part of efforts to reinforce bilateral relations with the Republic of Peru and will also benefit our national airlines and several other sectors in the country, directly affecting the growth of air traffic between the airports of the UAE and Peru, which will help strengthen trade, economic, and tourism relations between the two countries.”

For her part, Díaz said that the UAE is an important partner, as it is the largest Arab country investing in Peru, stressing that the UAE is the first nation in the Middle East to sign an agreement on air services with the South American country.

She stressed that the signing of the air services agreement with the UAE will enable Peru to act as a communication center for the networks of airlines in Latin America, highlighting that the signing of the agreement is a significant achievement and a milestone in the strong relations between Peru and the UAE.

Díaz stated that the signing of the agreement will allow the establishment of new air routes that will promote travel for tourism and business purposes between Peru and Arab countries, as well as Asian and Pacific countries.