employment in the agricultural sector represents a particularly large share of women s jobs in morocco per cent and iraq per cent women in the agricultural sector typically work on a daily or seasonal basis for a very low pay in gcc countries public sector employment accounts for per cent of overall employment of national citizens and female employees comprise between and per cent of public employees in qatar kuwait and the united arab emirates per cent in egypt per cent in jordan and per cent in palestine women who work in the public sector are most commonly employed as administrative staff teachers and nurses one possible explanation for the extensive presence of women in this field is the emphasis on job stability relatively good salary and suitable working hours which allow them to balance their paid work with their family responsibilities these features make jobs in the public administration particularly attractive to the increasing cadre of educated women in the arab region though several countries have initiated reforms to downsize or limit the growth of the public sector