UAE
gender gap grows narrower
By Samia Badih
Published
00:00 December 17, 2009
Dubai: When Suad AlHalwachi was fed up with being an employee all her life, she decided to start
her own business.
"I wanted my own
time," she said. "I wanted to do what I like and travel when I want
to."
But the Bahraini woman,
who's been living in the UAE for 30 years, didn't know that starting her own
business was not going to be easy, especially not for a woman in a world where
businesses are predominantly run by men.
A woman with no credit
history, Al Halwachi couldn't convince any bank to give her the capital to
start her new business.
"Banks would not give
me a loan because I'm a woman," she said. "So I basically had to
start my business on a shoestring."
Al Halwachi reached out to friends and family for financial
support and later started her own education consultancy firm which trains
schools and provides career counselling to students who wish to pursue their
higher education abroad.
Contacts lacking
Another challenge for Al
Halwachi was not having the right contacts for her business. But eight years
later, Al Halwachi says her firm, Education Zone, is doing well serving
students in the Middle East and Africa.
She spends most of her
time travelling to the US and Europe to learn more about the best universities
first hand.
When asked whether she
would apply for the Emirates Women's Award that is open to nationals and
expatriates, Al Halwachi said that hearing from her students after graduation
as they call her "Auntie Suad" is the best reward in the world.
Al Halwachi is one of
thousands of Arab women contributing to the region's economies whose efforts go
almost unnoticed. The Emirates Women's Award is aimed at recognising their
talent.
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