His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, will officially open a two-day conference in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday to promote national identity, history and culture amongst UAE nationals.
Taking place at the Emirates Palace hotel from 15-16 April 2008, The ‘United Arab Emirates National Identity Conference' is being hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Community Development.
More than 30 high level government and private sector speakers will discuss some of the key issues affecting national identity in the UAE and seeking ways to strengthen national identity and culture, particularly among the country's youth.
Running alongside the conference will be an art exhibition showcasing Arab culture through the works of UAE artists while a second exhibition will highlight initiatives undertaken by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Community Development.
The conference will be attended by Abdul Rahman Bin Mohammed Al Owais, Minister of Culture, Youth and Community Development, Members of Federal National Council and Federal Ministries, Local Departments in all of the Emirates and representatives from the private sector.
Belal Al Bodour, Executive Manager for Arts and Culture said, “The National Identity Conference will bring together leading figures from many different fields, to share their ideas about how to promote national identity and culture and how different government ministries and private sector organisations can work together to do so.''
Dr. Anwar Gargash, Minister of State for the Federal National Council will act as moderator for Tuesday's opening session on the challenges to national identity, and this will begin with a speech by Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Foreign Minister of the UAE, on the UAE and the International Community.
Mohammed Ahmed Al Bawardi Undersecretary to the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Secretary General to the Executive Council, will talk on “Investing in Human Resources'', Major General Dhahi Khalfan, Dubai Police Commander-in Chief will address security and Islamic preacher Shaikh Dr. Ahmed Al Kobaisi will discuss religious challenges.
Each session will be concluded by a review of discussions and an interactive period when members of the audience will have an opportunity to ask the speakers questions.
The second session on education will be moderated by Najla Mohammed Al Awar, Secretary General for the UAE Cabinet and Board Member of Dubai Women's Club, UAE and the session will commence with a speech by Hanif Hassan, Minister of Education on “Educational Insights in the UAE''.
Khaldoun Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Affairs Authority and Fatima Al Marri, Executive Director of the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) will speak on the crucial role of education in raising awareness of and enhancing national identity in the UAE.
The third session on political experience and participation will be moderated by Aida Al Azdi, Deputy Director General for Community Services and will include speakers such as Abdul Aziz Ghurair, President of the Federal National Council on “The role of the Federal National Council in boosting national identity'' and UAE author Abdul Ghaffar Hussein on “Historical facts on political participation''.
The final session on day one, moderated by Rashid Al Arimi, Secretary General for the Shaikh Zayed Book Award will address social diversity and the Arabic language. The session will include speeches on the “Arabic language'' by Belal Al Bodour, Executive General Manager for Arts and Culture at the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Community Development and Dr Ali bin Tamim. Beatrice Pauli will conclude the session with a discussion on “Language preservation, from the French experience''.
