Virtual Sharjah conference outlines strategies for key community sectors

Sharjah: A virtual conference called ‘Our’ Forum outlined four principles for entities in Sharjah that are focused on children, youth, women, family affairs and charitable work.

‘Our’ Forum brought together all entities operating under the leadership of Shaikha Jawaher Bint Mohammad Al Qasimi, wife of His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah and Chairperson of the Supreme Council for Family Affairs (SCFA).

During her remarks at the virtual forum, Shaikh Jawaher said Sharjah’s strategy of social development stem from the directives of His Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah.

Moderated by Saleha Ghabesh, director-general of the Cultural and Media Office at SCFA, the forum was organised by the Executive Office of Shaikha Jawaher, in cooperation with ‘Reyada Centre’, the educational arm of entities that operates under her leadership.

‘Our’ Forum brought together the workforce of 33 entities in four community sectors that work towards developing the talents of children and youth, elevating the community, offering family counselling and creating a secure environment that supports women, in addition to enhancing charitable endeavours.

The forum saw the participation of a panel of experts and specialists who shed light on how to innovate and improve development tools to create an efficient corporate culture, and outlined a roadmap for entities to efficiently apply this method to improve their strategies and plans as well as work culture.

Supporting women

“Sharjah realised early on the significance of laying a strong foundation for supporting women and girls and paving the way for their partnership and participation in the emirate’s development and prosperity. This was marked by the establishment of the Al Montazah Club under the directives of His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah. The Club set out a comprehensive cultural and recreational programme, in addition to sports, and saw an impressive footfall of women and girls of all age groups. This set the right base for the establishment of the Sharjah Ladies Club (SLC) which has since reinforced women’s outstanding presence in Sharjah’s development landscape,” said Shaikha Jawaher.

Key pillars

The virtual ‘Our’ Forum, organised by HHEO, focused on 4 key pillars: ‘Our Principles’, which discussed the concept of compassionate leadership; ‘Our Objectives’, which tackled social return on investment (SROI); ‘Our Data’ which highlighted the importance of data and statistics in planning and impact assessment; and ‘Our Tools’ which explored how organisations can use information technology (IT) and data in planning and programme development.

The sessions were introduced by Hanan Al Mahmoud, CEO of Al Jawaher Reception and Convention Centre (JRCC), who emphasised that entities which have a direct relationship with the public should be more proactive in adopting social development methodologies and tools to bring about qualitative changes in society, and enable its members to fulfil their ambitions and aspirations.

Sessions

The first session, themed ‘Our Principles: Compassionate Leadership’, hosted Jassem Al Baloushi, Board of Trustees Member of Rubu’ Qarn Foundation for Creating Leaders and Innovators, and EVP Head of Organisational Excellence at Sharjah Islamic Bank. He stressed that compassion is a leadership capability that is worth developing as it leads to tangible results at all levels of relationships.

In the second session, Farzaneh Majed, ROI Institute Partner, Balanced Scorecard Institute Strategic Partner and Advisory Board Member, CEO of Transform Alliance, shed light on the ‘Our Objectives’ pillar held under the theme, ‘Our Objectives: Social Return on Investment (SRoI)’. She spoke about the various ways to bridge the gap between concerted action and its targeted impact on society and highlighted the indexes to measure this impact.

The third session, titled ‘Our Data: The significance of data and statistics in planning and impact assessment’, was presented by Amin Al Zarouni, CEO of Sahab Smart Solutions. Al Zarouni discussed the transformations that are possible in the business as well as social sectors through efficient utilisation of data.

Speaking at the forum, Fatima Ali Al Marzooqi, Head of Quality and Business Excellence at Executive Office of Shaikh Jawaher, highlighted the 2021 roadmap that outlines the approaches adopted by the various institutions to achieve the vision of Shaikha Jawaher, reflected under the theme ‘Awareness helps families; solidarity helps communities’.