10 October 2018
Under the patronage and presence of Her Highness Sheikha Amna Bint Saud Al Qasimi , Her Excellency Hessa Bint Essa Buhumaid Minister of Community Development, Her Excellency Mariam Bint Mohammed Saeed Hareb Al Mehairi Minister of State for Food Security, Naema Abdullah Al Sharhan, Member of the Federal National Council , Ras Al Khaimah's Environmental Protection and Development Authority (EPDA) launched the first edition of Feminine Monitoring for Sustainable Environment Award, which has been listed in the Golden category of the “UK Ideas” Foundation for 2018 as an idea and a pioneering initiative globally , unprecedented in the field of environmental work. The award also featured a constellation of women leaders and environmental leaders in the federal and local sectors of all emirates, As well as distinguished guests from outside the country Dr. Wafa al-Tassan from Saudi Arabia and Dr. Faiza Al Yamani from Kuwait.
Dr. Saif Mohammed Al Ghais, Managing Director of the Authority, explained to the guests that this award focused on the vision of women empowering for a sustainable environment through the creation of environmentally friendly practices resulting from encouraging women to make voluntary efforts to protect the environment and sustainability resources , honoring women's outstanding efforts in the environmental field.
This award was derived from the initiative of Feminine Monitoring for Sustainable Environment launched by EPDA since 2015 with the aim of attracting women in various categories to play a voluntary role in the community to monitoring and evaluating the various environmental activities and providing environmental measurement services.
Dr. Saif Al Ghais added that, the initiative Feminine Monitoring for Sustainable Environment
and other innovative environmental initiatives launched by the Authority and achieved leadership positions for Ras Al Khaimah, both locally and globally, this initiative launched the keenness of His Highness Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi, he is keen on protecting the environment and sustaining its resources in line with the country's orientations and in line with the UAE National Vision 2021 under the theme of a sustainable environment and an integrated infrastructure under the axis of the competitive knowledge economy (Global Innovation Index). The Authority has translated these trends into a number of initiatives, including the " Feminine Monitoring for Sustainable Environment ,the initiative received the honorary patronage of Her Highness the Ruler of the Emirate: HH Sheikha Hana Bint Juma Al Majed - may God save her.
Naema Abdullah Al Sharhan, Member of the Federal National Council said, “Feminine Monitoring for Sustainable Environment is an innovative product of the state's interest and leadership in empowering women and their concern for environmental protection and sustainability of their resources at the same time. These priorities were established by Sheikh Zayed, may God rest his soul, the founder of the state in its values and practices and followed by the wise leadership after him.
Engineer Moza Obaid Al Mehairi, Assistant Director General , Environment Protection and Development Authority , That the award aims at keeping pace with the state's directions in empowering women and proving their capabilities in giving and applying best practices in the field of environmental protection and sustainable resources, raising the level of awareness and environmental knowledge and the degree of familiarity with compliance with federal and local laws related to the environment in different sectors of society, Promote volunteerism in environmental field work, and encourage institutions and teams to excel in research and innovation to provide solutions to environmental issues and challenges, The award includes categories of programs and outstanding practices in the field of food security, the best researcher in the field of environmental work, environmental work leaders , the category of the environmentally distinct institution , the best women's environmental working group.
At the end of the ceremony, Her Highness Sheikha Amna Bint Saud Al Qasimi , Her Excellency Hessa Bint Essa Buhumaid Minister of Community Development, and Her Excellency Mariam Bint Mohammed Saeed Hareb Al Mehairi Minister of State Food Security, honored the leaders of environmental work at the level of the State institutions concerned with environmental affairs , volunteers in a Feminine monitoring initiative for a sustainable environment.