The UAE has been mocked on the Twittersphere after it became apparent that all of the winners of this year’s ‘gender equality in the workplace’ initiative were in fact men.
The award, which was dutifully handed out by the country’s vice president, Sheik Mohammed Bin Rashid al-Maktoum, reportedly included the categories of ‘best government entity supporting gender balance’ and ‘best federal authority supporting gender balance.’
. @HHShkMohd honors the winners of the Gender Balance Index 2018. The Index features three categories: Best Personality for Supporting Gender Balance, Best Federal Entity for Supporting Gender Balance, and the Best Initiative for Supporting Gender Balance. #UAE pic.twitter.com/qE5GkYHzTo
— Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) January 27, 2019
The Guardian reports that the awards were given to the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Human Resources and the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority, all of which were represented by males.
Naturally, when the UEA sent out a Tweet attempting to cast itself as a bastion of gender equality and celebrating the award, it was met with mockery and derision by other users.
Wow really nailed the diversity there. One of those dudes was wearing gray.
— Tim Binnington (@tim_binnington) January 27, 2019
This is a joke right ? https://t.co/fxou0oP6pl
— Samah Hadid سماح (@samahhadid) January 28, 2019