Under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Manal bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Women's Establishment and wife of His Highness Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister for Presidential Affairs, Dubai Customs launched an award ceremony to honor the best working mother in 2010, on last Thursday 24 February 2011 at Royal Mirage Hotel with the attendance of a number of government department female senior officials, women in media, and society ladies.
Her Highness Sheikha Manal bint Mohammed bin Rashid said that The Working Mother Award 2010, which was launched jointly by Dubai Customs and Dubai Women Establishment, is notable for being the first of its kind among government and local departments in the UAE to honour women who are successful at attaining the challenging balance of successfully raising a family and achieving excellence in the workplace.
The Award serves a dual purpose – it honours those women who represent a role model for successful working mothers as well as fosters creative competition among female employees through the provision of incentives and the commendation of success, HH added.
HH said, in a speech that was delivered by Shamsa Saleh, CEO of DWE on behalf of Her Highness, that The Working Mother Award demonstrates Dubai Customs’ firm commitment to offering the support network required by women to fulfill both roles expected of them – that of a caring homemaker as well as a reliable and productive professional.
Women have emerged as key partners in the sustainable development of our nation, and their ability to contribute to both social and economic progress is vital to the UAE’s success in the future, HH added.
Her Highness Sheikha Manal bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum pointed that the long-term goal of the Dubai Women Establishment, in line with the vision of HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, is to not just recognize the efforts of working mothers, but to educate society and the professional community about their duty to offer these women support at every stage.
HE Ahmed Butti Ahmed said that the generous sponsorship of Her Highness Sheikha Manal bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum to Dubai Customs activities and the continuous support that the award received from Dubai Women’s Establishment reflect Her Highness’s keenness to always support Emirati women and enhance their participation in the country’s development process.
HE added: “The Working Mother Award” is an indication of the support that women at Dubai Customs receive. The department has empowered women and fostered their role in customs work at both administrative and field levels by providing for a suitable work environment to help working mothers excel in their work and family life. All of that has helped women reach leading positions in the department.
Feryal Tawakul, the executive director of Dubai Customs' community affairs and government partnership division delivered a speech in the occasion in which she said : “Inspired by the speech of Sheikha Manal bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum at The Second Arab Women Leadership Forum which was held in January 2010 in which she said that “The ability to strike the balance between family and career life is the key to women’s success and the key that helps them reach leading positions while, at the same time, maintaining the Islamic and Arabic identity”. Dubai Customs has launched this award because it is aware of the importance of women’s work in an environment that appreciates her family and work responsibilities, and provides her with means and tools of development to help her become part of decision making.
Tawakul said that the jury commended the participating women’s ability in striking the balance between their work and family life despite the difficulties involved in the two spheres.
“It was difficult for us to select between the different applications because the differences between them were minimal. Selecting the “model mother” was extremely difficult because they were all model mothers and fit to be an example that can be followed” she added.
After the attendants watched a documentary film on women’s role at Dubai Customs and the success that they have achieved in many fields, His
Mariam Khalifa Al Shamsa won the award as the best working mother in Dubai Customs 2010 over all categories. The best administrative mother title went to Mahbouba Baqir, followed by Thuraya Abdul Wahid in the second place and Samiha Abdulla Mohammed third. The best field working mother award went to Aisha Sultan Al Thahiri; Mariam Salim second; Sadiqa Yaqoub third. In the special honoring category, Sanaa Bilal Sayeed won the first place; Khadija Ahmed Abdulla first runner-up; Naima Qasim second runner-up.
The winner, Mariam Khalifa Al Shamsi, expressed her deep appreciation to Her Highness Sheikha Manal bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum for her sponsorship and support to the award which had been one of the main incentives for working mothers to excel in their work and become even more productive for the general interest of the whole country.
She also thanked the leadership of Dubai Customs for its continuous support to female staffs in the department, and the empowering opportunities they provides for them to help them develop and balance between their work and family life.
The award, first of its kind among local government departments, aims at honoring women working at Dubai Customs who succeeded in striking the balance between their family life and their work. There were 50 nominations for the award; 13 of them were qualified to the semi-final stage and the jury selected 10 winners from them who scored the highest marks in the three standards set for the award which are family distinction, career distinction, and mother’s ability to fulfill their role as homemakers and productive professionals.