Dubai: The future is too precious to waste and is often shaped by turning points in our lives if we are aware enough to recognise them, senior political women of global note told delegates at Women’s Forum Dubai on Monday morning.
In a first in the Middle East, 2,000 delegates are gathered for a two-day exploration of all things innovation in pursuit of sustainable ideas to help women pursue their fullest potential.
Clare Gaymard, President of the Women’s Forum for the Economy and Society, encouraged women to find their own path in an opening address to a packed audience in the plenary hall.
She urged them not to “gamble with your future.”
In the opening panels discussion, top politicians inspired delegates by sharing turning points in their lives recounting watershed ephiphanies that helped them envision and embrace a life true to self and filled with a sense of personal and community purpose.
Ameenah Gurbi-Fakim, President of the Republic of Mauritius, said she left her comfort zone of salaried security and habit in a university environment and struck out on her own to start her own business.
“No business school will teach you how to take risk,” Gubri-Fakim said.
She suggested that similar to an enabling environment such as exists in the United States, emerging economies must work toward innovative strategies to encourage talented people to take risks in areas such as entrepreneurship.
Emma Bonino, former Foreign Affairs minister of Italy, said her turning point of great personal struggle led her to into a life of politics where she learned that women have a great deal to offer in the political world of men.
In a lighthearted quip, Bonino advised women “to be twice as prepared and three times as eloquent than men – trust me, it’s not that difficult.”
As Europe itself faces another serious turning point with the question of Syrian refugees, Bonino reflected on the values taught to her by her mother and questioned whether the EU has abandoned some of the region’s long held beliefs.
“For me, the most worrying thing is that we are losing our moral values that we pretend to have,” Bonino said.
Margrethe Vestager, European Commission for Competition of the European Union, said her turning point came when she realised she was not trapped into any single lifestyle and that she could change personal course anytime she liked.
“That changed it completely for me,” Vestager said, noting that the freedom to choose led her to a decision to stay.
Reem Al Hashimi, Minister of State for International Cooperation Director General, Expo 2020, Dubai Bureau, said she found herself while posted in Washington while helping the UAE prepare the groundwork for its own nuclear energy program.
Al Hashimi said she discovered herself after realising she fully believed in the important work she was doing and that her earnest efforts were recognised by others.
She advised delegates, “you have to walk the walk, you have to believe in what you are saying.”
