Home Middle East Ivanka Trump Delivers Keynote Address at Global Women’s Forum Dubai

Ivanka Trump Delivers Keynote Address at Global Women’s Forum Dubai

Ivanka Trump visited the UAE to participate in the Global Women's Forum at Dubai
Ivanka Trump visited the UAE to participate in the Global Women's Forum at Dubai

She toured Abu Dhabi’s grand mosque and had a private meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed

Ivanka Trump recently visited the UAE to participate in the Global Women’s Forum at Dubai (GWFD). She delivered the keynote address and participated in We-Fi MENA Regional Summit. In her speech, she lauded a few Middle Eastern countries including Saudi Arabia for taking lead in women’s rights reforms. She toured Abu Dhabi’s grand mosque, Abu Dhabi’s branch of the Louvre Museum, and had a private meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed. She also met women entrepreneurs during her visit.

In her keynote address, she said, “We all know that when women are free to succeed, families thrive, communities flourish, and nations are stronger”.

Furthermore, she mentioned the progress of American women in her address. She said, “A few decades ago, women could not take out a loan without a man or own a credit card in their name. They searched for jobs in the female section of employment listings and made up only 25% of managers in 1980. Today, more American women are leading in every aspect of society. Last year, there were more women than men in the U.S. workforce, with women securing over 70% of new jobs”.

“Every woman here has an incredible story. They are brave innovators and bold entrepreneurs, that are bringing greater opportunities to their home countries,” she said.

She also talked about Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative launched by White house in 2019.

“Since we launched this historic initiative two years ago, with the UAE and United States as founding members, we will have mobilized $2.6 billion, of both public and private sector financing, to invest in more than 100,000 women-owned businesses in the developing world,” she said.

Global Women’s Forum was organised on 16-17 Feb 2020 by Dubai Women Establishment (DWE) under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, and Ruler of Dubai. The theme of the forum was ‘The Power of Influence’ with focus on – Government, Economy, Society, and the Future. 

We-Fi MENA Regional Summit in Dubai took place on side-lines of GWFD 2020 for the first time in the Middle East and North Africa region. The Summit was co-organised by Dubai Women Establishment (DWE) and the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi). This multi-national partnership was launched in 2017 and is supported by the UAE government.

Former UK Prime Minister Theresa May, World Bank President David Malpass,and Managing Director of the IMF Kristalina Georgieva were also speakers at the forum.