SDG 5 Gender Equality
This SDG is oriented towards achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls.
Relevant State Laws and Legislations
Women Applications and Non-Discrimination against Women
An example of addressing non-discrimination and equality between women and men is provided in the Employment of Women chapter in the Law No. 14 of 2004 on the promulgation of Labour Law, as laid out in articles 93-94 and 98.
Article (93)
A female Worker shall be offered a Remuneration equivalent to a male Worker when she performs similar work and she shall be entitled to the same opportunities of training and promotion.
Article (94)
A female Worker shall not be employed in dangerous or hard or arduous Work or Work which harms their health or morals, or any other Work specified by a Decision of the Minister.
Article (98)
The Employer may not terminate the Employment Contract of a female Worker by reason of her marriage or receiving the leave provided for in Article 96 of this Law.
The Employer may not notify the female Worker of the termination of her service Employment Contract during this leave, or send her a notification which ends during the said leave.
In addition, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women was adopted by the United Nations on 18 December 1979, which takes an important place in bringing the female half of humanity into the focus of human rights concerns. The initial report of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women in Qatar provides different measures and implementation plans in different areas that have taken place since the ratification.
The Ratification of Qatar to the UN Convention on Women was issued on 23 June 2009.
Maternity and Paternity
The Law No. 14 of 2004 on the promulgation of Labour Law provides examples on different regulations related to maternity and paternity. According to this Law, female workers are entitled for maternity leave, where the postnatal period is not less than thirty-five days, in addition to the rest period provided for the nursing female workers, as per articles 96-97.
Article (96)
A female Worker who has spent a whole year in service with the Employer shall be entitled to maternity leave with full Remuneration for a period of fifty days including the prenatal (antenatal) and postnatal periods, provided that the postnatal period is not less than thirty-five days.
This leave shall be granted upon a medical report issued by a Licensed Physician stating the expected date of delivery.
If the remaining period of the leave after delivery is less than thirty days, the female Worker may be granted a complementary leave from her annual leave. Otherwise, the complementary period shall be deemed to be leave without pay.
If the health situation following delivery does not allow the female Worker to return back to work after the end of the leave referred to in the preceding paragraphs, she will be deemed to be on leave without Remuneration provided that the period of her absence from Work shall not exceed sixty consecutive or interrupted days, and provided that a medical certificate of her medical condition shall be produced from a Licensed Physician.
The receipt of the delivery leave shall not prejudice the female Worker from entitlement to any other leave.
Article (97)
The nursing female Worker, in addition to her right to the rest period provided for in Article 73 of this Law, shall be entitled to one hour daily for nursing for a period of one year, which shall start after the end of the maternity leave. Determination of such break period shall be left for the female Worker. The nursing period shall be calculated in the working hours, and shall not result in any reduction in the Remuneration.
QU Internal documents addressing SDG 5*
SDG Metric: Women’s Progress Measures:
- Undergraduate Student Catalog 2020-2021 (EN | AR)
- Qatar University Faculty Bylaws (EN | AR)
- Business Operations Department Policies Handbook (EN)
- QU Faculty Professional Conduct Bylaws (EN | AR)
* The list is not exhaustive
