Commenting on her win, Shouq said:

“I’m very pleased about winning this competition, which allowed me to bring my creative ideas to life and showcase my talent in fashion design, especially in designing abayas that distinguish Khaleeji women. My abaya was inspired by spring, designed as a butterfly full of the happy and vivid colors of this season.’

‘In the past, the Khaleeji abaya consisted of one piece that is worn from the head down to cover all the body, despite differences in some details that reflected the individuality of each country. This dress changed over the years and consisted of two separate pieces for the head and the body,’ said Mohammed Al Samhan, one of the competition judges and owner of Al Yashmac Fashion. ‘Even as designs of abayas became more creative and fashionable, this traditional dress maintained its black color across the region. The move by Persil Abaya Shampoo to launch this competition has proved the great talent that Arabian woman enjoys, as she translates her creativity into beautiful designs that contribute to highlight this dress as part of our proud heritage.’

UAE designer Amal Murad, jury member and owner of ‘Redaa’, said:

‘Abayas in the GCC have become more than just a traditional black dress, and now reflect a wide variety of models and designs that serve the needs of khaleeji women – students workers or housewives. These abayas are elegant, and at the same time preserve the decency and originality of this traditional dress.

‘Arwa’a Abaya’ was a great way to discover creative designing talents that will help launch new designs to further introduce the world to this special line of fashion, which now runs its own fashion shows,’ she added.

The competition, the first of its kind in the region, has captured huge attention in terms of participation and audience, who watched its updates on leading Arabic channel MBC1.

Members and non-members alike are invited to participate in large selection of cultural and social events, art exhibitions and workshops. The workshops and events are open to ladies and children only.

The many various planned attractions will include the first ladies-only Ramadan tent in the UAE overlooking the clubs pristine and private beach. Each week, the tent will feature a new theme (African/Moroccan/Lebanese/Emirati) and will incorporate beautiful traditional design and cuisine of the country; hence guests will learn and experience how Ramadan is celebrated around the world. There are no entry charges for the Ramadan tent. However, the Ramadan Tent will now offer an impressive buffet menu (Iftar for AED95 per person and Suhoor for AED75) as well as à la carte menu.

Moreover, guests visiting the tent will receive a goodies bag and also be entered into a raffle to win a Family Holiday Package to Thailand worth AED50,000. The package will include four return tickets from Dubai to Bangkok as well as a 4-nights stay at a luxury 5-star property in Thailand.
Dubai Ladies Club will be open from 9 am till midnight during Ramadan.

For more information: info@dubailadiesclub.com

The DHA has tied up with Neuron LLC for the ENAYA scheme which means ‘Care’ in Arabic. The scheme will be implemented from the 1st of July, 2009 and will provide health insurance cover to all government employees and their dependents.

Laila Al Jassmi, Director of Health Funding at the DHA said, “We are very pleased with the outcome of this scheme and the scope of diseases it covers. In addition to a comprehensive medical cover, the scheme also gives priority to preventative measures that are crucial to improve the health of the population, save lives and reduce the economic burden on the healthcare system.”

Al Jassmi said normally schemes do not focus on providing preventative cover, however the ENAYA scheme provides all government employees with the opportunity to have a comprehensive medical check up done, which includes screening for blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol, depression, stress, and various forms of cancer such as skin, breast and cervical cancer.

In addition to providing a preventative cover, another important service of the scheme is that it provides cover for pre-existing medical conditions.

Al Jassmi said, “We wanted to ensure that employees with pre-existing medical conditions do not get left out of the scheme and the benefit it provides. We have also given much-needed importance to chronic diseases and focused on women’s health in this scheme.”

The scheme covers chronic diseases such as diabetes; it covers nervous disorders and psychiatric treatment and also provides women with comprehensive medical cover.

For women, the scheme covers aliments such as ovarian cysts, polycystic ovarian disease and menstrual disorders that are not related to infertility.

Moreover it covers maternity, however, pre-authorization is required in such cases to avoid abuse of the system.

Al Jassmi said, “The scheme provides cover for newborn babies from day one, provided the baby is added in the scheme within the first 60 days of birth.”

The scheme also includes dental cover limited to cleaning and scaling every six months and for children it covers fluoridization and sealants up to the age of 18 years.

The ENAYA scheme covers the employee, his spouse and three children. For Emiratis, parents of the employee are also covered and the number of children covered is unrestricted.

To avail of the scheme, employees have to present their identification card in addition to the ENAYA card.

The Dubai Health Funding team met with the Human Resource (HR) section of all 38 government departments in Dubai and gave presentations about the scheme to employees in organizations such as the Department of Finance, Dubai police, Dubai Municipality, and Department of Naturalization & Residency amongst others.

The one day conference was organized by Gulf Publishing Company and inaugurated by H.H Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline and Group, witnessed the participation of over 115 individuals interested in the field of energy and technology from all over the world.

Addressing the participants, H.H Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed said:

“The complex relationships between the global oil companies, the price of oil, supply and demand, funding for new technology development, alternative energy resources and all of this as it impacts our environment are key issues that we all must face. I am confident that conferences such as this, along with a renewed commitment to the future of our children and planet, will provide the stability we all crave as citizens of the world.”

Within the framework of this conference, several presentations and panel discussions were held, they were dedicated to issues like: sustainable solutions for meeting energy demand, the dynamics and impacts of the current market on the relationship between national and international oil companies, the relationships among the global economy, the price of oil, supply and demand and the human capital, the recruitment and retention of young talent in tough economic times and many more.

In his welcome speech H.H praised Gulf Publishing Company for the efforts they have put into making this conference a huge success, he said:

“Gulf Publishing is creating lasting connections for women in the energy industry. They have given you a platform to express ideas and exchange diverse opinions in an exciting, dynamic environment.”

The conference wrapped up with a networking reception, where participants had the chance to further elaborate on the subjects of the conference and build relations for future collaborations.

The Women’s Global Leadership Conference was held under the Platinum Sponsorship of Ernst & Young, the Gold Sponsorship of Schlumberger, and the Silver Sponsorship of ExxonMobil. The conference was also supported by numerous organizations around the region.
The next Women’s Global Leadership Conference in Energy and Technology will be held in Houston Texas on November 3rd and 4th, 2009.
For more information visit www.wglnetwork.com. You can also follow them on www.twitter.com/WGLNetwork and join their group on LinkedIn, Women’s Global Leadership Network.

The five women selected for the WLP will be assigned a series of projects in departments outside of their own to increase their exposure to the other business units and groom them to take on more responsibility. Soft skills instruction, coursework and on the job training will all be utilised to further develop and hone their skills.

“Women tend to fall off the corporate ladder once they reach the higher rungs,” said Dina Amin, one of the five selected for the programme and the Head of Business Cards at Barclays Bank UAE. “This initiative recognizes the important role women play in the workforce and encourages all of us to pursue the professional goals we have set for ourselves.”

The programme was restricted to the middle management grades because it tend to be the “tipping point” in the professional career of a woman.

“To retain talented female employees, businesses have to go the extra mile to encourage women who choose to remain in the workforce and equip them with the right tools for their career enhancement” said Amin.

A six months mentoring programme will be created for each of the five employees. Following completion of the programme each of the participants will be asked to mentor a less senior female employee at Barclays – thereby extending the reach and efficiency of the programme.

The WLP programme in the UAE is a part of the larger, award winning Diversity and Inclusion campaign that Barclays has implemented across all of the markets it operates in. The Diversity and Inclusion campaign allows each market the flexibility to identify specific areas they would like to focus their resources toward improving. After thorough review, Barclays in the UAE chose to devote special attention to the retention and promotion of female managers in the organisation.

WILpower, an extension of the Academy for Educational Department (AED), is supported by the Middle East Partnership Institute (MEPI) of the U.S. Department of State, and represents a cooperative regional information exchange network dedicated to female law students and young legal practitioners in the Middle East and the North Africa region. In essence, WILpower addresses the challenges female Arab lawyers and law students face by providing them with appropriate training and networking support as well as developing communication technology solutions.

Recently, WILpower launched a web site (www.womeninlaw.net) which includes seminars and lectures that discuss the region’s decisive legal issues. The site creates an opportunity for lawyers to exchange skills, resources, and knowledge on laws, leadership, and private institutions. The program aspires to reach a large number of female law students and practitioners in the Middle East and North Africa.

The QRCE organized the first session of business training during the regional WILpower workshop in January, followed by 12 online training sessions conducted using interactive internet training tools.  The thirteenth session will be held during the second regional workshop in May. The first session of the training included the first module of the “Starting a Business” workshop developed by the Cisco Entrepreneur Institute, which focuses on building entrepreneurial skills for legal practitioners, and introduces the definition of business planning and its role in driving business success.

The Cisco Entrepreneur Institute is focused on educating entrepreneurs around the globe. Working with local government and private sector organizations, Cisco’s mission is to help communities and nations harness the power of entrepreneurs small and medium business entrepreneurs to stimulate economic growth and social prosperity. Cisco believes this initiative will create significant long-term benefits and help transform the economic landscape for its customers and partners, while enabling Cisco to further expand its business and social impact on a global scale.

In mid 2008, The Queen Rania Center for Entrepreneurship was announced as a regional partner for the Cisco Entrepreneur Institute Initiative. This relationship aims to improve the entrepreneurial spirit among the Jordanian youth through extensive training and to drive more potential national partners to utilize the advantages provided by Cisco to the Jordanian community and beyond.

Queen Rania Center for Entrepreneurship is a non-profit and non-governmental organization that has played a pivotal role in supporting the knowledge-based economy in Jordan and the region. The QRCE is part of El Hassan Science City, located in Jubaiha, Jordan, which includes Princess Sumaya University for Technology (PSUT), The Royal Scientific Society (RSS), and the Higher Council for Science and Technology (HCST). The QRCE provides several programs, such as the Cisco Entrepreneur Institute, the Queen Rania National Entrepreneurship Competition (QRNEC), Technology Commercialization Program (TCP), Made in Jordan Competition, CONNECT Jordan, and the Student Entrepreneurship Society (DART). The QRCE is sponsored by and partners with King Abdullah II Design and Development Bureau (KADDB), King Abdullah II Fund for Development (KAFD), Google, Jordan Business Magazine, Jordan Commercial Bank (JCBank), Jordan Dubai Capital, Jordan Enterprise Development Corporation (JEDCo), National Fund for Enterprise Support (NAFES), Optimiza, Orange, and Royal Jordanian.