Written and reported by Emirati woFrom control rooms powering the nation’s future to sports arenas, laboratories, boardrooms and creative spaces, Emirati women are shaping the UAE’s story in ways that are both visible and yet to be fully recognised. Some are breaking new ground, while others are preserving traditions, building institutions, serving their communities and making their mark in fields where their voices have often gone unheard.
Over the next two months, will spotlight these stories with the return of ‘By Emirati Women, For Emirati Women’, a special editorial series conceived, reported and written by Emirati women from our newsroom.men, the special series shines a light on inspiring trailblazers across nuclear energy, sport, fashion, civil defence, business and beyond.
At the heart of the series is a simple yet powerful idea: who better to tell the stories of Emirati women than Emirati women themselves?
The series launches as the UAE celebrates Emirati Women’s Day under the 2026 theme, ‘We Emerge Stronger and Better’, announced by Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, the Mother of the Nation.
The theme celebrates how far Emirati women have come while looking firmly ahead to a future in which their ambition, ideas and leadership will continue to shape the country.
This year’s commemoration carries added significance. In July, Sheikha Fatima announced that the celebration, traditionally observed on August 28, would expand into a month-long programme of initiatives and recognition, focusing on action, appreciation and the women whose journeys reflect their role in the UAE’s development.
That forward-looking spirit will run through the series.
Readers will meet Emirati women working in nuclear energy and civil defence, athletes advancing the country’s sporting ambitions, designers and creatives reimagining culture and identity, entrepreneurs building homegrown businesses, and professionals forging careers in unconventional fields.
There will be familiar names, but also women whose achievements have largely unfolded away from the spotlight. Some stories will look back to those who helped shape communities before the Union, while others will introduce a new generation and offer a glimpse of where the UAE is heading next.
Through on-the-ground reporting, candid conversations and personal journeys, the series will look beyond titles and milestones to the people behind them — the families who encouraged them, the mentors who opened doors, the challenges they overcame, the traditions they carry and the sense of national purpose driving their ambitions.
The project builds on the returning with a broader canvas and an even stronger focus on the women shaping the country around us.
For Khaleej Times journalists Ruqayya Alqaydi, Azza Al Ali, Arwa Almazrouei and Amal AlHashmi, the project is personal, too.
Over the next two months, they will seek out the celebrated and the seldom-heard — the pioneers who opened doors and the young women now walking through them.
Because these are not only stories about Emirati women.
They are stories about the UAE itself: where it has come from, who is helping build it today, and the women who will help shape where it goes next.
