The constitution has given all Qatari citizens equal rights to education and employment. Though women have a smaller share in the inherited property as compared to men, they enjoy high positions in the government and private sector.

Out of 35,845 of the Qatari workforce there were around 15,087 Qatari women employees in the government sector in 2003. And 70% of these women were degree holders. Working women also represent more than 50% of the total workforce at the Ministry of Education. There are more than 21% Qatari nurses working at The National Health Authority.

In 1998 Qatari Ladies and Qatar National Bank formed Qatar Ladies Investment Company, the first of its kind in the region. A Businesswomen Forum was set up in November 2000, to serve as a committee for the Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry, with an aim to provide a conducive environment for women in business and help them make responsible business decisions.

H.H. Sheikha Mouza Bint Nasser Al-Misnad is a great supporter of women's issues and encourages their active participation in society. She leads by example and actively engages herself in educational and social upliftment programmes motivating others to follow.

Other Milestones

• On March 8, 1999 Qatar became the first Gulf nation to allow women to vote in municipal elections.
  
• Haifa al-Baker became the first woman lawyer in Qatar on 16 February 2000.
  
• H.E. Mrs. Sheikha Al Mahmoud was named Qatari education minister in May 2003, the first woman in the Gulf to be given a seat in government.
  
• Mrs. Mariam Abdullah Al Jaber on February 24, 2003 became the first District Attorney in the Gulf region.
  
• In 2006 Amna Al Aubaidli became the first Qatari woman to pilot commercial Jet Flights.