A few weeks ago I sat down with Emirates 24/7 for their Dubai-it series, and one line I said has stuck with me since: universities here have become genuinely excellent, and more young people are choosing to study in the UAE, then build their careers, and eventually their whole lives, here.

I said it as a general observation about the country. But the longer I sit with it, the more I think it's actually a story about women specifically.

When we talk about sustainability, most of us go straight to the environment. Rightly so, it matters enormously. But there's another kind of sustainability I think about just as often: human sustainability. How we build relationships here that actually last, in a country where most of us arrived as strangers.

The old pattern

For a long time, the rhythm here was predictable. A woman arrives for a job, or because her partner got transferred. She builds a life, a routine, maybe a small circle of friends. And then, often around the time her children hit secondary school, or definitely by university, she leaves. Not because she wants to, but because that's simply what people did. You raised your kids here, and you sent them "home" for the years that mattered most.

I watched that pattern for years without questioning it much. It was just how things worked.

What's actually changing

That pattern is breaking, and it's breaking in a way that says something specific about women's lives here, not just about universities.

Our own children chose to study in the UAE rather than go back to Belgium. Not because it was easier. Because the universities are genuinely good, and because this, not somewhere else, had quietly become home.

Multiply that by thousands of families making the same call, and you get something new: women who aren't just passing through anymore. Women who are staying long enough to see their daughters graduate here, long enough to become the senior voice in a room instead of the newcomer, long enough to actually grow old in this city.

Why that matters for how we build things

Most of what gets built for women here, socially, professionally, even at events like ours, was designed for a transient population. Quick friendships. Short-term networks. Things that work for 3-5 years and then quietly fall away when someone moves on.

If women are staying, the things we build for them need to hold up over a decade, not a season. That's human sustainability, in practice: relationships and communities designed to actually last, not just to get someone through their first difficult year.

It's part of why we keep coming back to the same format. What lets a friendship that started on a field keep going long after the trophies are packed away.

A different kind of roots

There's a version of putting down roots that gets talked about constantly: buying property, getting a Golden Visa, sending kids to university here instead of "back home." Those are the visible markers.

The quieter one is this: having women around you who've also decided to stay. Who'll still be on your team next year, and the year after that. Who watched your kids grow up the way your own mother would have, if she'd been here to see it.

That's not something a visa gives you. It's something you build, slowly, usually on a Saturday morning, one team at a time.

You can read the full Emirates 24/7 piece here.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does "human sustainability" mean in the context of expat life in the UAE?

Human sustainability refers to building relationships, friendships and communities that last for years, not just the first difficult settling-in period. In a country where most residents arrive as newcomers, it means designing social connections and support systems that hold up over a decade, similar to how environmental sustainability focuses on long-term impact rather than short-term fixes.

Why are more families choosing to stay long-term in the UAE instead of returning home for university?

UAE universities have significantly improved in quality, making it possible for families to keep their children close through higher education rather than sending them abroad. This shift means women and families are increasingly staying long enough to build careers, see their children graduate locally, and grow old in the country, rather than treating it as a temporary stop.

How does Pink Ladies Games support long-term social connection for women in the UAE?

Pink Ladies Games returns as the same consistent format every year, which allows friendships and teams formed in one edition to reconnect and continue in the next. This consistency is designed to support lasting relationships among women, rather than the short-term networks typical of a transient expat population.