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UAE Ministers to Asharq Al-Awsat: Empowering Women is Basis of Successful Society

The UAE Ministers interviewed by Asharq Al-Awsat
The UAE Ministers interviewed by Asharq Al-Awsat
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UAE Ministers to Asharq Al-Awsat: Empowering Women is Basis of Successful Society

The UAE Ministers interviewed by Asharq Al-Awsat
The UAE Ministers interviewed by Asharq Al-Awsat

Four Emirati female ministers stressed on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday that society’s success depends on empowering women and achieving gender equality at the workplace, pointing out that the UAE has adopted this policy since its establishment 46 years ago.

At the forum, UAE has the largest representation in its history with 12 ministers, including five women.

Asharq Al-Awsat interviewed four of them. They are Minister of State for Public Education Jameela Salem al-Muhairi, Minister of Community Development Hessa Bint Eisa Bu Humaid, Minister of State for Advanced Sciences Sarah al-Amiri, and Minister of State for Food Security Mariam al-Muhairi.

The four ministers reviewed UAE's experience in empowering women and efforts to achieve gender equality at work.

The Minister of State for Public Education pointed out that women make up 31 percent of the UAE cabinet, and that Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum is seeking to increase the ratio to 50.

When asked whether the UAE will appoint a woman at a so-called sovereign ministry, the ministers unanimously agreed that the appointments are based on competence, not gender.

"In 2018, the World Economic Forum continues to discuss empowering women, at at time when the UAE has been empowering women since its foundation 46 years ago," said al-Amiri, adding: "Each Emirati woman with a good position is there because of her efficiency."

For her part, Jamila al-Muhairi pointed out that women’s presence at her ministry has been almost the highest among the services ministries, pointing out that achieving equality between men and women goes beyond senior positions to enabling them in all sectors.

The Minister referred to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's speech on conditioning the success of communities with empowering women. She also gave an example of European countries in terms of gender equality in the workplace.

"Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan did not differentiate between women and men in education, and he stressed the importance of equality between the male and female components of the labor force," she added.

In a related context, the ministers welcomed the reforms taking place in Saudi Arabia under the leadership of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz and his Crown Prince Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

"The close relationship between UAE and Saudi Arabia is not baseless. We are brothers and we share land, religion, language and origin. That is why, Saudi Arabia's success and development is directly linked to the UAE," indicated Minister Hessa Bu Humaid.

She went on to say that a successful woman not only benefits herself but also her small and extended family, and develops her community.

Hence, "the success of Saudi women is part of the Kingdom's successes."

In turn, Minister of State for Public Education Jameela Salem al-Muhairi, lauded the reforms in Saudi Arabia. "I am pleased with the reforms and empowerment of Saudi women to take a prominent role in society," she said.

Minister Mariam al-Muhairi stated that she was eager to work with her Saudi counterparts to find solutions to common challenges.

Minister of State for Advanced Sciences explained that this year's World Economic Forum is themed "Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World" which means it is imperative to reflect a positive image of the region's potentials, often controlled by wars, blood and fanaticism.

"UAE is seeking to change the negative image associated with the Middle East, by giving positive examples that include the confidence of the people in their government. UAE ranked second among the world's most trusted nations according to Edelman Foundation," she said.

"I feel very proud when young people at the forum asked me about the Ministry of Youth, or when I noticed the participation of the large female audience within the ministerial delegation," said Mariam al-Muhairi, who is participating in Davos for the first time.

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Interviews

Goldrich to Asharq Al-Awsat: No US Withdrawal from Syria

US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ethan Goldrich during the interview with Asharq Al-Awsat
US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ethan Goldrich during the interview with Asharq Al-Awsat
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Goldrich to Asharq Al-Awsat: No US Withdrawal from Syria

US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ethan Goldrich during the interview with Asharq Al-Awsat
US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ethan Goldrich during the interview with Asharq Al-Awsat

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ethan Goldrich has told Asharq Al-Awsat that the US does not plan to withdraw its forces from Syria.

The US is committed to “the partnership that we have with the local forces that we work with,” he said.

Here is the full text of the interview.

Question: Mr. Goldrich, thank you so much for taking the time to sit with us today. I know you are leaving your post soon. How do you assess the accomplishments and challenges remaining?

Answer: Thank you very much for the chance to talk with you today. I've been in this position for three years, and so at the end of three years, I can see that there's a lot that we accomplished and a lot that we have left to do. But at the beginning of a time I was here, we had just completed a review of our Syria policy, and we saw that we needed to focus on reducing suffering for the people in Syria. We needed to reduce violence. We needed to hold the regime accountable for things that are done and most importantly, from the US perspective, we needed to keep ISIS from reemerging as a threat to our country and to other countries. At the same time, we also realized that there wouldn't be a solution to the crisis until there was a political process under resolution 2254, so in each of these areas, we've seen both progress and challenges, but of course, on ISIS, we have prevented the reemergence of the threat from northeast Syria, and we've helped deal with people that needed to be repatriated out of the prisons, and we dealt with displaced people in al-Hol to reduce the numbers there. We helped provide for stabilization in those parts of Syria.

Question: I want to talk a little bit about the ISIS situation now that the US troops are still there, do you envision a timeline where they will be withdrawn? Because there were some reports in the press that there is a plan from the Biden administration to withdraw.

Answer: Yeah. So right now, our focus is on the mission that we have there to keep ISIS from reemerging. So I know there have been reports, but I want to make clear that we remain committed to the role that we play in that part of Syria, to the partnership that we have with the local forces that we work with, and to the need to prevent that threat from reemerging.

Question: So you can assure people who are saying that you might withdraw, that you are remaining for the time being?

Answer: Yes, and that we remain committed to this mission which needs to continue to be pursued.

Question: You also mentioned the importance of humanitarian aid. The US has been leading on this. Are you satisfied with where you are today on the humanitarian front in Syria?

Answer: We remain committed to the role that we play to provide for humanitarian assistance in Syria. Of the money that was pledged in Brussels, we pledged $593 million just this past spring, and we overall, since the beginning of the conflict, have provided $18 billion both to help the Syrians who are inside of Syria and to help the refugees who are in surrounding countries. And so we remain committed to providing that assistance, and we remain keenly aware that 90% of Syrians are living in poverty right now, and that there's been suffering there. We're doing everything we can to reduce the suffering, but I think where we would really like to be is where there's a larger solution to the whole crisis, so Syrian people someday will be able to provide again for themselves and not need this assistance.

Question: And that's a perfect key to my next question. Solution in Syria. you are aware that the countries in the region are opening up to Assad again, and you also have the EU signaling overture to the Syrian regime and Assad. How do you deal with that?

Answer: For the United States, our policy continues to be that we will not normalize with the regime in Syria until there's been authentic and enduring progress on the goals of resolution 2254, until the human rights of the Syrian people are respected and until they have the civil and human rights that they deserve. We know other countries have engaged with the regime. When those engagements happen, we don't support them, but we remind the countries that are engaged that they should be using their engagements to push forward on the shared international goals under 2254, and that whatever it is that they're doing should be for the sake of improving the situation of the Syrian people.

Question: Let's say that all of the countries decided to talk to Assad, aren’t you worried that the US will be alienated in the process?

Answer: The US will remain true to our own principles and our own policies and our own laws, and the path for the regime in Syria to change its relationship with us is very clear, if they change the behaviors that led to the laws that we have and to the policies that we have, if those behaviors change and the circumstances inside of Syria change, then it's possible to have a different kind of relationship, but that's where it has to start.

Question: My last question to you before you leave, if you have to pick one thing that you need to do in Syria today, what is it that you would like to see happening today?

Answer: So there are a number of things, I think that will always be left and that there are things that we will try to do, to try to make them happen. We want to hold people accountable in Syria for things that have happened. So even today, we observed something called the International Day for victims of enforced disappearances, there are people that are missing, and we're trying to draw attention to the need to account for the missing people. So our step today was to sanction a number of officials who were responsible for enforced disappearances, but we also created something called the independent institution for missing persons, and that helps the families, in the non-political way, get information on what's happened. So I'd like to see some peace for the families of the missing people. I'd like to see the beginning of a political process, there hasn't been a meeting of the constitutional committee in two years, and I think that's because the regime has not been cooperating in political process steps. So we need to change that situation. And I would, of course, like it's important to see the continuation of the things that we were talking about, so keeping ISIS from reemerging and maintaining assistance as necessary in the humanitarian sphere. So all these things, some of them are ongoing, and some of them remain to be achieved. But the Syrian people deserve all aspects of our policy to be fulfilled and for them to be able to return to a normal life.