H.E. Zehra Zümrüt Selçuk paid a courtesy visit to H.E. Noura AL SUWAIDI, Director General of the UAE General Women's Union.

During the meeting, several key areas of mutual interest were discussed, emphasizing SESRIC's commitment to providing accurate statistical data and conducting comprehensive research.

In the field of Statistics and Research, H.E. SELÇUK underlined that SESRIC continues its efforts to furnishing reliable data and conducting in-depth research in areas concerning women, family, and social development and that collaborative project proposals are developed and submitted to the relevant OIC fora.

SESRIC's commitment to statistical data availability is exemplified through its OIC Statistics (OICStat) Database, hosting and regularly updating 146 social development indicators, with specific focus on elderly, people with disabilities and special needs, and gender and family indicators.

Moreover, joint efforts between the two insitutions can be extracted to raise awareness of women's empowerment in the OIC region by spotlighting policies and programs of the UAE General Women's Union that promote women's participation in education, employment, and decision-making. The valuable experience of the UAE General Women's Union should be shared with other member countries, thus strengthening intra-OIC collaboration in the domain of women's empowerment.

In addition, SESRIC conducts various capacity-building activities related to women, family, and social development through programs such as OIC-VET and the Social Development Capacity Building Programme (SD-CaB). These initiatives aim to enhance institutional and human capacities in social development within OIC countries.

The meeting ended on positive note for a synergistic partnership between both institutions that will make a significant impact on the social development and women's empowerment landscape across the OIC countries.

The General Women's Union was established in 1975 to serve as the national mechanism for the empowerment and entrepreneurship of women in UAE. It is composed of 5 women associations (Dubai Women’s Association, Women Union Association, Um El Moameneen Association, Umm Al Quwain Women Association, and Association of Women's Renaissance). Its objective is to strengthen the pioneering role of women, and achieving global indicators in various fields and aims to adopt policies, set plans and programs, launch initiatives, and provide the necessary support to ensure the active participation of women in sustainable development.