Articles
We make better leaders
Rania Habib talks leadership with students at Zayed University's Women as Global Leaders 2006 conference held in Abu Dhabi.
- By Rania Habib
- Published: 00:00 March 17, 2006
Rania Habib talks leadership with students at Zayed University's Women as Global Leaders 2006 conference held in Abu Dhabi.
A wise man once said: "You cannot ostracise 50 per cent of a country's population and then expect it to perform at optimal levels." Shaikha Lubna Al Qasimi, UAE Minister of Economy, left the wise man unnamed when she spoke recently at Zayed University's 2006 Women as Global Leaders conference, but over 1,000 students from 87 countries were riveted.
To UAE national students Shaikha Lubna has become a role model, an example to look up to in paving the road for women's rights in the country. Other speakers at the forum's inaugural ceremony included Queen Rania of Jordan and former Irish president Mary Robinson.
These powerful women undoubtedly left a mark on the UAE's students; by highlighting women's leadership roles within the community and their effect on social change, the leading ladies became living, breathing examples of the power and quality that women can bring to leadership.
Setting an example
The UAE is still in its embryonic stages, but with two women ministers in the government, the country is certainly not falling behind. Both Shaikha Lubna and Dr Mariam Mohammad Khalfan Al Roumi, UAE Minister of Social Affairs, came to power in a country that had seldom given power to women. These two women have set the wheels in motion for generations of UAE women to come.
With the Women as Global Leaders conference, International Women's Day celebrations and the recent announcement made by the General Women's Union regarding the first national gender-mainstreaming project all taking place within days of each other, the women of the UAE seemingly have everything on their side.
FARAH ALI AL SHARID, Communications and Media Sciences
"It's a big deal for us that we have women ministers, but it shouldn't be a big deal. But it's new, and it's something we're not used to.
Women as leaders are really the best. You can't be a leader without being a strong person, and I don't like the misconception that women are emotional and weak; it's not true. If you have the strong factor, a little bit of sensitivity is a good thing. Perfect leaders have a combination of both, without overlapping. That's why I think women are the best kind of leaders."
SOUAD JAMAL AL SERKAL, Communications and Media Sciences
"Since we've already established a step towards freedom in the UAE, people should help us make it easier for us now. Some people say that the things we want to achieve contradict our cultural and religious boundaries, but if everything is bound within the values of our religion, there's no mistake in what we do. Going abroad to get an education shouldn't be a problem for us, if it's done within Islamic boundaries. People should be educated about this, because some families are not very open-minded."
NOURA AL MUHAIRI, International Studies
"The UAE is one of the countries that is trying hard to push women. We have more educated women than men and the government is really giving us lots of opportunities.
The Women as Global Leaders conference is a sample of what is being done for women in this country. They want us to be on top, so they are pushing us hard.
What we need is women knowing about their rights. They don't know that they can access all sectors, and they don't know about the rights of this country. We have lots of opportunities and rights, so we have to make them aware of it."
REEM AHMAD BIN SHABIB, Marketing
"I had a dream to become the first woman minister in the UAE. I said that to Shaikha Lubna during the Women as Global Leaders forum, and she said: "You will become a minister and you'll be even better than me, and you'll become prime minister. We've got it all in the UAE. I think it has to be up to us, women, to stand up and take the positions. We've got the political push and the capacity, so we're ready."
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