Business & Money | Sunday 16 October, 2016 4:53 am |

The emirate of Sharjah will be hosting the 'Investing in the Future' Conference under the theme ‘Building the Resilience of Women and Girls in the Arab Region’, on October 19-20. It is the chance to put forward not just visions, but hopefully solutions to critical issues.

 

Investing in the future is to invest in human beings, their competence, values, culture and involvement in their social surroundings. It is investing in the shared values to alleviate humanity's suffering, enabling and inspiring their creativity in science, arts, knowledge and economic and social work.

 

The last 10 years have seen sweeping changes in the economy as well as in international and regional stability. These changes marked a new phase in human history that has prompted us to think deeply about how to overcome their repercussions. We must understand the mechanisms and tools that should be used to shape a better future in order to meet the ambitions and aspirations of everyone, wherever they may be.

Such rapid upheavals have led to a collective global thinking about how we can invest in the future through learning from our past. We must examine the causes and effects that created the financial crash, regional conflicts and worldwide crises and now fuel a common fear for future generations, especially girls and women.

 

In the UAE, we soon realised that the relationship between development and stability is conditional. There is no stability without development, and no development without stability. To achieve the desired development and ensure its sustainability, human resources must work to optimise assets and introduce new values and concepts.

 

The empowerment of a society, including young people, women and children, is the key to shaping a better future for all. This can only be achieved by promoting the civic responsibilities, with gender balance and equal rights under an updated legal and legislative system for a future shaped by both men and women. This is vital to a future where partnership is favoured over partition, accord over acrimony and collaboration over conflict. And the efficiency of these resources is a reflection of world class education, the community’s progressive culture and society’s outlook towards women.

 

The future we crave involves a concerted and consistent effort to develop all human capacities and unleash the creativity that encourages us all to play our roles in establishing the values of sustainable development. Here we mean all, foremost of which are children and women. Investing in the future also means cooperation with regional and international partners to end conflicts and social disintegration. This has dominated the region for years and we must try to eliminate negative consequences on women and children who make up one of the most important engines for the development and direction of the future.

 

The first edition of the conference focused on the protection of children and young refugees in the Middle East, and as a global humanitarian charity that is a top priority at The Big Heart Foundation (TBHF). The damage caused to this age group as a result of conflicts and displacement leaves deep scars on their emotions and their personalities. It also promotes negative values, hostile tendencies and as a result of uprooting them from their social environment and placing them under inhumane conditions, instils a sense of exclusion. Therefore, our interest in this category comes in line with our keenness and concern for the fate of an entire generation that may develop false values and beliefs through living under such harsh conditions.

 

We are closely following the recommendations of the previous edition of the conference, and seek to achieve a vast global partnership to rally support for the protection of this generation. The ultimate goal is to relieve their cruel refugee status and support all efforts to end conflicts and pave the way for refugees to return to their homes as a non-negotiable and natural right.

 

Naturally, this mission is not easy, it interlinks with many, many factors resulting from ongoing conflicts and disputes. However, we remain confident that our efforts and those of our partners will put this issue under the spotlight and draw more attention to its grave consequences and contribute to ending its root causes. It is our aim that these actions will also contribute to activating international laws on the protection of this age group not just during conflicts but in their aftermath, from such horrors as exile, injury and loss of family.

 

In order to achieve this strategic goal, we seek through The Big Heart Foundation, under the guidance of His Highness.Dr Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, to lend a helping hand through a range of projects and initiatives that can at least partially relieve some of the suffering endured by refugee children.

 

Sharjah has a vast experience in regional and international humanitarian work and we consider the first edition of "Investing in the Future" (IIFMENA) conference as culmination of years of this involvement. It is also an interpretation of the culture established by the guiding principles of His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah. These principles, which include all aspects of social, economic and cultural life enrich the emirate's cultural heritage, whether through Sheikh Sultan’s interest in reading, theatre, fine arts, or through his directives that an individual should be the focus of development and its main engine.

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There is a great natural harmony between these cultural components and the emirate’s long standing international relationships that were always focused on alleviating peoples suffering in difficult circumstances. The culture of goodness cannot have credibility unless it truly results in benevolence. Similarly, arts and literature, embraced by Sharjah, cannot have their real human dimension if they are not reflected in the emirate's policies.

 

We want our citizens to recognise suffering afflicting others and support them in facing their problems and hardships. This effort will enhance their culture, raise their awareness, making them better global citizens promoting their positive national identity in terms of relationships with others, both regionally and globally.

 

 

The first edition of the conference succeeded in discussing how to work collectively in order to protect children and young refugees, and to promote joint action and exert collective efforts to improve their lives. The major outputs of this conference were the “Sharjah Principles”, which were adopted by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), to be implemented by all countries in the world under the supervision of the UNHCR. We hope that we will see the positive effects of these principles in the next few years.

 

Another issue we must address at the conference is the stereotyped image of Arab and Muslim women. I do not agree with the concepts of stereotypical notions of women in any society – every community has negatives as well as positives.

 

Women in all societies experience particular problems that arise from the nature of their communities: the gender pay gap – women earn less than men – social inequality as a result of income inequality, a lack of laws and regulations that ensure women's occupational rights, social marginalisation and high healthcare and education costs. All communities, whether developed or developing, including Arab communities, are suffering from these problems.

 

Arab women suffer from discrimination, which was established by some social customs associated with ignorance. This discrimination did not derive from the cultural heritage of Arab societies that puts mothers, sisters and wives in a high position of respect and appreciation. Women in Western societies are suffering another kind of discrimination because of monopolies of markets and laws by largest economies. They are also victims of high crime rates and suffer from family breakdown, which makes them vulnerable to occupational exploitation.

 

Secondly, there is no single model that can be used to interpret the theme of women's empowerment, neither Western nor Eastern. Each community has its unique cultural and social advantages and disadvantages, and its own ideas and insight about of the messages of equality, empowerment and social justice.

 

Arab societies are characterised by a coherent and extended family and we want the empowerment of women to enhance this but not affect them negatively. We see in many communities that the success of a woman’s independence is measured by her standing in society. Therefore, it is vital to empower Arab women that are from social groups which tend to be less involved and less influential in their development.

 

The empowerment of women is inextricably linked to achieving social justice for the poor and low-income families. How can we talk about women's right to education, for example, if this right is limited to the social elite, which can afford the cost of education? On the other hand, how can we demand equality in employment in countries which suffer from high unemployment rates? Men and women who belong to marginalised and poor social groups share the same suffering.

 

While the expanse of conflicts, scale of ill-treatment and economic turmoil continues, we have at least seen a far greater and far more mature awareness about the importance of laying the right foundations for a secure and stable future. One way we can observe this maturity is demonstrated by the widespread international and regional participation and the influence of the attendees at the conference. Investing in the future is the slogan that brings all nations together. Beyond question, we all want a future characterised by development, sustainability and justice, and a society free from discrimination and marginalisation for any social class or gender.

 

This broad participation is also an indicator of the UAE's economic and social achievements. It is evidence of the international confidence in the UAE model of development and its respect of Emirati citizens as the lynchpin of development. This also demonstrates how the UAE gives priority to human resources and enables the people to play a leading role in building a promising future.

 

Education, employment, empowerment and peacebuilding as the main themes of the conference –are inseparable issues. Equality in education, employment and empowerment are the foundations to building civil and social peace. Moreover, they are the factors that promote national culture and identity, endorsing the right for everyone to practice their culture and beliefs on the basis of mutual respect, regardless of social differences, gender, nationality, ethnicity or religious faith.

 

For education we are also talking about social education - ignorance has no place in society and causes people to lose both their perspective and their principles. Unemployment causes despair, fuels hostility and affects the unity and harmony of communities. Empowerment is pivotal to all societies and peace is the fruit of science and social stability, and that is why these concepts have been chosen for the conference – all revolving around this year’s motto: “Building the Resilience of Women and Girls in the Arab Region".

 

The key issue is to explore the means of equal access to education through developing an educational system commensurate with the incomes of all social groups, and an economic system that treats all graduates with the same values, which are competency and skill – not gender.

 

There are several sources of data which claim female students perform better in academic education that their male counterparts in the Arab world, however, the employment rate for women is far lower. There are practical reasons for this, which may include the nature of work in many developing countries, where physical labour is at a premium. But there are also many unjustifiable reasons, including the absence of laws and legislation on pregnancy and childbirth for working women, and the sharp gap in wages between the genders.

 

The conference will highlight the importance of completing the process of equality development in the Arab world and will hopefully lead to expanding the scope of work for women to have access to equal job opportunities. The conference will discuss the legal employment framework for women and their right to pregnancy and maternity leave and equal pay. For those women in displacement, however, there are very few rights and even less support. Displacement puts women in punishing conditions as sole breadwinners to feed their children and leaves them to endure the pressure and complications of caring for her family single-handedly.

 

For this, we allocated programmes at The Big Heart Foundation for refugee women. The foundation has implemented its intentions by launching a range of special projects to assist and guide refugee women and provide some essentials of life including psycho-social support. These projects have reached refugee camps in a number of Arab countries.

 

To drive similar aid, cooperation with UN Women gives the conference a special international dimension and motivates stakeholders to adopt the recommendations and programmes of the conference.

 

This collaboration is also a reference to the nature of global issues that we are targeting; "UN Women" is the largest UN body and international organization dedicated to the empowerment of women and gender equality. It has several local, regional and international partnerships with many specialist agencies and organisations.

 

There are no local issues that are not reflected on a regional or international scale and there is no solution without taking this into account. We are working through this conference to create a general international environment that helps achieve unified goals. And turning the conference recommendations and conclusions into action programmes is the bedrock that underlies the event.

 

Those conclusions will have been gained from the overwhelming participation of representatives from a number of governments and highly influential regional and international organisations. Aside from the partnerships launched by the Organizing Committee of the conference with the Arab League, and "NAMA" Women Advancement Establishment, we will cooperate with all of our partners to follow up the recommendations and overcome any obstacles that hinder their implementation. This means that when we talk about empowerment and capacity building, countries need to shoulder their responsibilities in drawing up future policies, whose results will help create a legislative environment, economic structure and educational and cultural system in line with growth and development. The resulting achievements from these policies are gradual and accumulative as they need time to take full effect. Empowerment cannot be achieved overnight.

 

Countries must allocate part of their budgets to gradually turn these policy theories into practice. These budgets must include the development of school curriculums and the establishment of vocational and technical training centres for women. These should mainly involve women in rural and remote areas, which always suffer more than those concentrated in major cities and conurbations.

 

There are several models which have proven their efficiency in the involvement of women in the job market. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and cooperatives in particular have been successful in terms of employment in developing markets. But we are a long way before that becomes the rule rather than the exception.

 

Conflicts in most Arab countries represent a state of cultural hopelessness that undermines the social achievements attained by women through their struggle alongside supporters and advocates for women’s rights.

 

I am talking here about the extremist culture embraced by several parties and movements in their outlook towards women. There is unimaginable damage that can be caused to women’s positions and social roles if these movements took over the reins of power. Women in the Arab world must, without hesitation, make their voices heard against such a potential cultural disaster.

 

Wars destroy economic infrastructures and impede growth which inevitably leads to an increase in unemployment rates, a decrease in educational opportunities and less access to essential basic services.

 

The Organizing Committee of the "Investing in the Future" conference has announced a strategic partnership with "NAMA" Women Advancement Establishment which will enable it to define its objectives and its most important initiatives during the conference, in addition to highlighting its achievements about women's empowerment in the emirate of Sharjah and the UAE. It will also shed light on its success with its global projects and initiatives on professional and vocational levels. The foundation will also oversee two closed sessions that will be organized on the side-lines of the conference. The sessions will be dedicated to discussing the subject of the future of Women in the UAE.