Sheikha Fatima wins WFO 2012 award

The World Family Organization (WFO) presented the 2012 World Family Award to Shaikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Chairwoman of General Women’s Union, and of the Family Development Foundation and Chairwoman of Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood. This came during a ceremony organized by the United Nations at its Headquarters in New York on the sidelines of its annual meeting which was devoted this year to ‘ Abu Dhabi Declaration ‘, issued by the 7th Summit of the World Family Organization which was held in Abu Dhabi, from 5-7 December 2011, under the Patronage of Shaikha Fatima in collaboration with a number of the concerned United Nations entities with the participation of representatives of 76 countries from different continents of the world. The award was received on behalf of Shaikh Fatima by Nora Al Suwaidi, Director General of the General Women’s Union in the presence of Ambassador Ahmed Abdul Rahman Al Jarman, Permanent Representative of UAE to the United Nations and the accompanying delegation from the General Women’s Union in addition to a number of members of UAE’s diplomatic corps, senior officials in the international organization and representatives of a number of NGOs participating in the meeting. On the occasion Al Suwaidi’s in a speech said: ‘It is my great pleasure and honor today to present the Abu Dhabi Declaration, document E/2012/NGO/13, the outcome document of the 7th Summit of the World Family Organization which was held in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, from 5-7 December 2011, Under the High Patronage of His Highness  Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak, The Supreme chair of Family Development Foundation, President of the Women’s General Union in the UAE, President of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and childhood in the United Arab Emirates which was organized by the World Family Organization and the General Women Union in the United Arab Emirates ,and the cooperation of relevant UN agencies. The Abu Dhabi Declaration - Families in Balance: Working our way Towards Sustainable Development - Making Decent Work and Social Protection a Global Reality for All Family Members was submitted to ECOSOC and accepted as the first proposal on sustainable development and poverty eradication that takes into account the family perspective. She said that the Declaration encompasses the ECOSOC 2011 main theme, the MDG 1, and the review of the current global and national trends and challenges, and their impact on Poverty Reduction and Sustainable Development in all sectors of society. It also aligns with the theme of the high-level segment of the ECOSOC in 2012. ‘It is the outcome of discussion and reflection of 76 countries representing all 5 continents, governments, parliamentarians, judicial systems, private sector and civil society during the 7th Summit of the World Family Organization on how to approach those issues and how to deal with the present Economic and Financial challenges.’ It is a reaffirmation of the international community’s commitment and partnership towards making the future world live in the future with more peace, security, justice, tolerance, solidarity, prosperity by mobilizing and promoting the basic cell of society - the family - through the engagement of all sectors of society. It recognizes the high importance of full and productive employment and decent work opportunities and protection for all family members, especially youth, and women, and the elimination of discrimination based on gender, age, ethnicity or disability, and urges that they should be put at the heart of crisis response, and it advocates for a Green Economy regulatory framework for the creation of decent and green objectives which support sustainable development. It calls upon all governments, the private sector, civil society and community leaders to work to create work environments that respect human right principles for all and implement international labor laws. It emphasizes the important role of the family in promoting the education of mediation and peace and calls upon governments to develop legislations that support families in the eradication of domestic and gender- based violence and highlight the role of mediation in dispute and conflict resolution. She concluded: ‘In my capacity of Representing the UAE, the hosting country of the Summit, I call upon all stakeholders and partners in the efforts to promote prosperity, security and peace for all, to work together on the national, regional and international level to implement our commitments as pledged in the Abu Dhabi Declaration, by providing the necessary assistance and resources for developing and poor countries to help them fight poverty and achieve the MDGs. The leadership in the UAE believes in the importance of solidarity and collective international efforts to end this global problem, and we stand with the rest of the world to fight it.’