Except for the clothing that wraps the physical package, women of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are no different. Like their sisters from Alaska and Zimbabwe and every letter of the alphabet in between, these women are concerned with successfully raising children, having the opportunity to find meaningful employment outside of their houses, and with establishing legal rights where marriage, child custody and marital assets are concerned.

Dedicated to empowering UAE women to follow Sharia--the religious, political, social, domestic and private guidelines that generally apply--in Muslim countries, the UAE General Women's Union is an association of smaller women's groups from throughout the seven emirates that comprise the UAE. Established in 1975 by Sheikh Zayed's wife, Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak (Muslim women do not adopt their husband's last names), today, 27 years later, the Women's Union is still chaired by the UAE's First Lady.

The Union is just as concerned as any feminist group in the West with how its critics often accuse the group of being "man-haters."

"We love men and we want to follow Sharia," said a spokeswoman for the association, over a cup of sweetened tea. "Islamic law says that our first priority should be to nurture our children. That's why we offer career counseling and train women in computer skills. Sometimes a woman needs to work to properly care for her children."

Just like women in the West who guiltily fret about day care centers, many women of the UAE worry about leaving their children in "nurseries" when they go to work. As a result, a top priority for the Women's Union is the qualification of the baby sitters who care for the children.

Located in a quiet neighborhood on the edge of the city of Abu Dhabi, the Union headquarters doesn't take it lightly when it comes to security. Each car is stopped and its passengers questioned upon arrival.

While the Women's Union is headquartered in Abu Dhabi--the largest geographically and the richest economically of the seven emirates--the group, like the UAE itself, is careful not to impose the concerns of Abu Dhabi on the other six emirates.

Determined not to tread on each other's rights to govern themselves, the associations work together to plan the Union's focus and to research the most appropriate issues. Once their plans are identified, they present them to their local chairmen and the First Lady for approval and then execute the plans according to their own beliefs and individual customs. They also present their positions and concerns internationally at conferences and lectures.

This year the Union's concerns are personal. With the help of the smaller women's organizations, academics and the ministers of justice and social affairs, the Union focuses on divorce issues, like the equitable division of marital assets and child custody agreements.

"Islamlic law covers these issues," the Union spokeswoman explained. "But different interpretations of Sharia can lead to different conclusions."

Another personal issue for the women of the UAE is the nursery system. Convinced that government sponsored baby-sitters are inherently better than private businesses, the Women's Union this year is lobbying for a government regulated system for licensing nurseries.

In addition, the Union offers valuable career counseling for women. Not only does it aspire to provide training that is sensitive to the needs of the local labor market in government, embassies and private businesses, the Union also serves as a job placement agency that forwards resumes and follows up on the interviews of job applicants.

Without question the Union's most visible role as far as tourists are concerned is as vendor for local handicrafts. The group chooses to serve the role of merchant because the Union sees the handmade goods as effective in preserving the traditions of the country as well as successful in generating cash for low-income, rural women who must help support their families.

Serving as a benefactor to local women artisans and their families, the Union provides modest stipends to widows and divorced women regardless of how many handicrafts they sell. It also helps these artists design, price, package and exhibit their crafts.

Currently a hot topic for the women of the UAE is the pressure to wed and the high dowries that their families set for their hand in marriage. For a woman from a prominent family, the dowry can run as high as $500,000 which makes a proposal financially difficult for young men. To help suitors raise the funds, the government instituted the Marriage Fund in 1993 which offers long-term loans up to 70,000 Dh (approximately $20,000) and an extra 20,000 Dh for those over the age of 30.

What's more, Sheikh Zayed has waged a successful campaign to discourage the high dowries that result in local men marrying foreign women to save money. He has also built special wedding halls that serve as reduced rate venues and he has encouraged group weddings that help to distribute costs among groups of couples.