Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Presidential Affairs, officially opened the two-day UAE National Identity Conference at the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi, on Tuesday
The conference is being staged following the directive from President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan that 2008 is the year of national identity in the Emirates.
Held under the patronage of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, the conference is hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Community Development and seeks to promote national identity, history and culture among UAE nationals.
The first session on “challenges of the Emirates and the international community'' opened with a speech by UAE Foreign Minister Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan who said the UAE is gaining respect internationally in terms of its social and economic achievements, and the country's foreign policy needs to reflect the national identity.
Mohammed Ahmed Al Bawardi, Secretary General of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council, discussed globalisation and its effects on the UAE. He also spoke of the importance of training and development for UAE nationals and building human capital, knowledge and professionalism in accordance with best practice international standards.
Major General Dhahi Khalfan, Dubai Police Chief, outlined challenges relating to national security and immigration in the UAE, and the need to secure national identity. The first session concluded with a speech by Islamic preacher Shaikh Dr Ahmed Al Kobaisi on religious challenges.
The National Identity Conference brings together Members of Federal National Council and Federal Ministries, Local Departments in all of the Emirates and senior representatives from the private sector to discuss the key issues affecting national identity in the UAE and exchange views on ways to strengthen and enhance the nation's identity.
The second session on education was moderated by Najla Mohammed Al Awar, Secretary General of the UAE Cabinet and Board Member of Dubai Women's Club, and it opened 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) spoke 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, moderated by Aida Al Azdi, Deputy Director General for Community Services, featured speeches by 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, moderated by Rashid Al Arimi, Secretary General for the Shaikh Zayed Book Award addressed social diversity and the Arabic language.
The session included 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 concluded the session with a discussion on “Language preservation, from the French experience''.
Tomorrow's first session on sports achievement in the UAE will include speeches from Chairman of the UAE Football Association, Mohammad Khalfan Al Rumaithi, Ibrahim Abdulmalik, Secretary General of the General Authority of Youth and Sport, UAE rallying legend Mohammed Ben Sulayem and UAE sportswoman Shamma Al Muhairi.
This will be followed by a session on national identity and the media, moderated by Ali Khalifa Al Muhairi, Head of News at Dubai TV. Ibrahim Al Abed, Director General of the Dubai Media Council will outline “media policies'' and Ahmed Salem of the Sharjah Advisory Council will discuss the role of audio and visual media. Nasser Al Zaheri will lead a discussion on “journalism and national affairs'' and Joseph Ghossoub will talk on “the impact of advertising on media messaging''.
The final session of the conference will address National Heritage and will include speeches on heritage in the UAE by Abdul Aziz Al Mussallam from the Sharjah Department of Culture and Information, Rashid Boukhash of the Dubai Municipality, Dr Nasser Al Hemiari from the Abu Dhabi Authroity for Heritage and Arts and Nasser Al Aboudi.
