Sharjah Ruler to open IGCF 2016 tomorrow

The fifth International Government Communication Forum (IGCF 2016) will be held from March 20-21 at the Expo Centre, Sharjah, under the patronage of H.H. Dr. Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah.

The two-day Forum will bring together a number of government experts and media figures, along with more than 3,000 local and regional leaders and experts as well as Mass Communication students from various UAE universities and institutes. Students of local and Arab universities are also expected to participate in the event as volunteers and attendees.

The Sharjah Ruler will deliver a keynote inaugural speech in the presence of key international figures, ministers, official sand experts from all over the world. Sheikh Sultan bin Ahmed Al Qasimi, Chairman of Sharjah Media Centre, will also deliver a speech.

Dr. Sultan bin Ahmad Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of State and Chairman of the Board of Directors of National Media Council (NMC), and Amal Alamuddin Clooney, international advocate and human rights activist, will also deliver a key note address before the participants.

A first-of-its-kind event, the forum aims to build a platform for better communication between governments and their stakeholders to support the government of Sharjah for creating a participatory dialogue and to develop government communication mechanisms for the benefit of government institutions in the UAE and the region.

The event will witness local, regional and global media experts coming together along with government thought leaders from all over the world in the emirate of Sharjah. By internationalising the title to ‘International Government Communication Forum' (IGCF), the forum is set to emerge as an annual event to benchmark Sharjah’s media and communications mandate against global best practices, aims to bring the latest professional standards of various governments’ communication methods to the emirate, seeks to address and embed macro topics to develop a collaborative and participatory dialogue with opinion leaders, heads of government institutions, and other officials.

In addition to a series of panel discussions and workshops, the forum will highlight the Sharjah Media Centre and its role in developing and overseeing best practices in the field of media relations and communications for government institutions.

The event will be held under the slogan of the upcoming edition of IGCF, ‘Citizens for Prosperity’ and stresses the integral role of government communication in socio-economic development, emphasising: "The slogan reinforces our focus to put a positive spin on this enabling relationship between governments and the people and highlights their respective roles in pushing forward the development process."

The IGCF 2016 will host several guests of honour who will deliver keynote speeches on both days of the forum. Most notably, these will include Dr. Sultan bin Ahmed Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of State and Chairman of the Board of National Media Council; Mary Robinson, first female president of the Republic of Ireland (1990-1997) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (1997-2002); Shamma bint Sohail Faris Al Mazrouei, Minister of State for Youth Affairs, UAE; Amal Clooney (Alamuddin), lawyer, international advocate and human rights activist and author; and Christopher Gardner, American entrepreneur, motivational speaker, author and philanthropist.

The first session of the forum will be held on Sunday, March 20 and will discuss the role of government communication in building knowledge societies, detailing the experience of educational institutions in Finland and Malaysia in shaping public opinion consistent with regard to the upgrading of the educational system. The session will also focus on the role of communication in linking educational policies with the requirements of development, particularly its impact on the policies and directions of private education, and on governmental reforms in formal educational institutions.

The panelists of the session will include: Fredrik Reinfeldt, Prime Minister of Sweden (2006-2014); Ziauddin Yousafzai, UN Special Advisor on Global Education; Jordan Casey, Young entrepreneur, owner of Casey Games and self-taught programmer (16 years old); and Rajai El Khadem, Head of MENA - Public Sector LTS LinkedIn. Mayssoun Azzam, Media Personality from Al Arabiya News Channel, will moderate the session.

Themed ‘Confronting Extremism: Government Communication and Creation of a Humanist Culture,’ the second session will highlight the role of government communication in organising intensive media and awareness campaigns to target young people and educate them about dealing with intellectual, social and ideological messages that feed and fuel extremism. The session aims to mitigate destructive thoughts before they lead to deadly acts of terror, threatening the national, cultural, social and economic security of societies.

The speakers for this session will include: Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, High Representative of the United Nations Alliance of Civilisations (UNAOC); Mohamed Benaissa, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of the Kingdom of Morocco (1999-2007); Dominique de Villepin, Prime Minister of France (2005-2007); and Husain Haqqani, Ambassador of Pakistan to the United States (2008-2011). The session will be moderated by media personality, Mohannad Al Khatib, from Sky News Arabia.