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UAE Celebrates Emirati Women’s Day

The UAE celebrates Emirati women’s day on August 28. (WAM)
The UAE celebrates Emirati women’s day on August 28. (WAM)
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UAE Celebrates Emirati Women’s Day

The UAE celebrates Emirati women’s day on August 28. (WAM)
The UAE celebrates Emirati women’s day on August 28. (WAM)

The United Arab Emirates is celebrating on Tuesday the fourth annual “Emirati Women’s Day” to highlight the important role they play in society.

The UAE will celebrate its faith in the importance of the contributions of Emirati women and their role in the country’s development, reported the Emirates news agency WAM.

The country’s constitution supports the participation of Emirati women in decision-making, a core component of economic empowerment.

The UAE government has made the theme "Empowerment of Women and Girls" as one of three areas of action underpinning the country's international aid policy for 2017-2021.

Nine women sit on the Federal National Council for the 16th legislature, representing 22.5 percent of 40 members. Furthermore, women make up 27 percent of the cabinet formed in 2016 which includes nine women ministers, said WAM.

The UAE Gender Balance Council was established in 2015 as a federal agency dedicated to scaling up the UAE's efforts to achieve gender balance across all sectors nationwide, and in decision-making positions.

In the diplomatic field, women currently hold 30 percent of positions in the diplomatic corps at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, which comprised 234 women employees in 2017, including women ambassadors and diplomats representing the UAE abroad.

Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Chairwoman of the General Women's Union, President of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood, and Supreme Chairwoman of the Family Development Foundation, said that celebrating Emirati Women’s Day is an opportunity to appreciate and take pride in the local and international achievements of Emirati women, who have contributed to the progress of the UAE society.

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Tunisia Rehab Barge Offers Hope for Vulnerable Sea Turtles

Marine specialists treat a sea turtle on a care barge in Tunisia's Kerkennah Island, the only one in the Mediterranean, on December 18, 2024. (Photo by Akim REZGUI / AFP)
Marine specialists treat a sea turtle on a care barge in Tunisia's Kerkennah Island, the only one in the Mediterranean, on December 18, 2024. (Photo by Akim REZGUI / AFP)
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Tunisia Rehab Barge Offers Hope for Vulnerable Sea Turtles

Marine specialists treat a sea turtle on a care barge in Tunisia's Kerkennah Island, the only one in the Mediterranean, on December 18, 2024. (Photo by Akim REZGUI / AFP)
Marine specialists treat a sea turtle on a care barge in Tunisia's Kerkennah Island, the only one in the Mediterranean, on December 18, 2024. (Photo by Akim REZGUI / AFP)

On a barge hundreds of meters off the Kerkennah Islands in southern Tunisia, a group of students watches intently as Besma, a recovering sea turtle, shuffles towards the water and dives in, AFP reported.

The barge, used to treat injured loggerhead turtles, is the first floating rehabilitation center for the species in the Mediterranean, its organizers say.

Harboring netted enclosures underwater, it allows the threatened species to receive care in saltwater, its natural habitat.

"It is important that the sea turtles recover in their natural environment," said Hamed Mallat, a marine biologist who heads the UN-funded project.

"We place them in a space that's large enough for them to move and feed more comfortably," he added.

Mallat, a member of the local Kraten Association for Sustainable Development and the International Sea Turtle Society, founded the project last month and said the rehab barge was refashioned from a sunken aquaculture cage.

It can hold up to five sea turtles at a time, each in its own enclosure, and spans 150 square meters (1,610 square feet) at the surface, with netting below to allow the convalescing animals to reach the sea floor.

The loggerhead sea turtle, also known as Caretta caretta, is considered a vulnerable species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Every year, around 10,000 loggerheads are caught by trawlers and in fishing nets in the waters off Tunisia.

Life Medturtles, an EU-funded sea life conservation project, estimates that more than 70 percent of sea turtle deaths in the Mediterranean are caused by gillnets -- large nets used for mass fishing.

It is often the fishermen themselves who bring the injured turtles to the barge, said Mallat.

The project is also an opportunity to teach younger generations about preserving sea life, he added.

"This is a direct application of the things we study," said 24-year-old Sarah Gharbi, a fisheries and environment student at the National Agronomic Institute of Tunisia (INAT).

"It's also a first interaction with marine species that we usually don't see as part of our study or in our laboratories. It's something new and enriching."

Her teacher, Rimel Ben Messaoud, 42, said the barge's "educational value" was in giving students a first-hand experience with marine life conservation.

Due to rising sea temperatures, overfishing and pollution, a number of marine species have seen their migratory routes and habitats shift over time.

Mallat said the project could help study those patterns, particularly among loggerhead sea turtles, as Besma now bears a tracking device.

"It gives us a significant advantage for scientific monitoring of sea turtles, which is somewhat lacking in scientific research in Tunisia," he said.

Mallat said he also hoped to attract the islands' summer tourists to raise awareness about the vulnerable species.