Abu Dhabi: The Arab Thought Foundation on Monday conferred the Life Achievement Award 2015 on Lt General Shaikh Saif Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, for his work in promoting security and humanitarian initiatives.
Egyptian President Abdul Fattah Al Sissi inaugurated the event in Cairo on Monday.
Shaikh Saif received the award from Prince Khalid Al Faisal, Governor of Makkah and chairman of the Arab Thought Foundation.
After receiving the award, Shaikh Saif said: “I am very pleased and honoured to join this esteemed group of Arab intellectuals who are being honoured, not only for being intellectuals but because they are positive intellectuals who have left their mark on their communities.”
“Through their deep wisdom and instinct, the late founding fathers realised the importance of building humans before building edifices. Therefore, they endeavoured to nurture positive citizens and invest in their education. They braced challenges and overcame them; not with money or steel, but using rational thought,” he added.
The winners of the Lifetime Achievement Award are chosen by a panel of judges, with the selected candidates having to meet a series of criteria, which include being an innovative leader in their field. In 2011, His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, received the award.
During his stay in Cairo, Shaikh Saif also visited the Children’s Cancer Hospital Foundation, after being invited by the hospital’s management to take a tour of the facility and see the work it does.
The hospital was opened with the help and support of the Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Foundation, providing the latest medical treatment for children with cancer. The hospital also provides strong support and guidance for families of children suffering from cancer.
During the tour of the hospital, Shaikh Saif was accompanied by Major General Magdi Abdul Gaffar, Egyptian Interior Minister, Mohammad Bin Nakhira Al Daheri, Ambassador of the UAE to Egypt, and Dr Sherif Abul Naga, director of the hospital.
