Our region is home to courageous women who become role models to others. From the teenage Syrian refugee girl in Jordan who must now act as a mother for her orphaned brothers to the women entrepreneurs of Yemen, who started their business with nothing but big dreams and big hearts ... to the incredible women of Sharjah, who have shown that they can be modern Arab women while also celebrating their cultural roots, which has made the emirate the proud Capital of Islamic Culture.
Previously, women had a glass ceiling imposed on them, limiting how high they could rise on the corporate ladder. But education is the hammer that has shattered that ceiling. Now women can spread their wings and reach for the stars, because the sky is no limit.
A woman with knowledge is an asset to every family, organisation and community. Her ambition to change her community and her world, her prosperous career and her strength to shape the future comprise her armour against any setbacks that life throws at her.
When you empower a woman, you empower an entire generation — both men and women. Therefore, women’s empowerment is also family empowerment, community empowerment and national empowerment. An educated woman is the first teacher of any child, because true education begins at home. No university can ever teach a woman moral values if she did not first learn them at home; because school is not a substitute for parenting, but a supporting tool.
Knowledge can never hamper women or chain them down. It gives them wings, unlocks new doors of opportunities and lets them form educated opinions. Make no mistake: Only women themselves can determine how far they rise in life.
Many initiatives have created a brighter future for women and children; and this curiosity, this thirst for knowledge, is here to stay. True wisdom does not just come from books. It comes from loved ones, experiencing new places, new people, new cultures, new ideas and keeping eyes and ears open to the changing world around. But above all, it comes from within. Women should not simply wait to be empowered; they should empower themselves.
Women help shape families, communities, society and therefore nations. All you empowered and enlightened women who are the ambitious young leaders of tomorrow, aim to succeed and do your best and you will surely attain your goals and realise your ambitions.
Shaikha Jawaher Bint Mohammed
Al Qasimi is a humanitarian, UNHCR Eminent Advocate, patron of Friends of Cancer Patients (FOCP) & Activist for Women’s Empowerment and Social Change.
