ARAB TIMES, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2017
15
Sandheikha Lubna Al Qasimi is a trail-
blazer who has fired the ambitions
aspirations of a generation of wom-
en in the United Arab Emirates, and the
Gulf with her meteoric success story.
Because not only is the US-educated
Sheikha Lubna the first woman in the
Emirates to hold a ministerial post, she
is also the first woman in the region to
have successfully led the male-dominat-
ed Ministry of Economy and Planning,
she is also the first to start a Middle
Eastern BB online marketplace, which
is now one of Dubai World’s most suc-
cessful business units with franchises
across the Middle East. Sheikha Lubna
has spent a long time in governance
starting from 2004. And over the years,
she moved from Economy and Planning
to Foreign Trade, International Coop-
eration and then the curiously named
‘Ministry of Tolerance’ before stepping
down a couple of weeks back. Listed
by Forbes every year in the past decade
for her dynamism and achievements, in
2016 she made it to number 43 on the
list of the most powerful women in the
world, and this year she was ranked the
most powerful Arab woman in govern-
ance. What makes her even more inter-
esting is the ease with which Sheikha
Lubna straddles the traditional and the
modern with her attitude and way of
thinking. A member of the Sharjah royal
family, Sheikha Lubna carries none of
the baggage associated with her class
and status. A ‘people’s person’, she is
unassuming, unpretentious and forth-
coming, and willing to share her vision
and life’s philosophy. Sheikha Lubna Al
Qasimi was in Kuwait to give a keynote
speech at the 10th International Confer-
ence on Women Leaders in Science,
Technology and Engineering organized
by Kuwait Foundation for Advance-
ment of Science in association with the
American Association of Science and
the US State Department. In an exclu-
sive interview with the Arab Times,
Sheikha Lubna explains the importance
of co-existence and tolerance in an in-
creasingly divisive world, the need of
countries and culture to evolve at a pace
of their choosing, and shared her pride
in the increasingly progressive role that
women are playing in her country.
The United Arab Emirates has made
no bones about championing the cause
of co-existence and tolerance in its so-
ciety. Last year, HH Sheikh Moham-
med Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler
of Dubai and Vice-President and Prime
Minister of the UAE in a statement said,
“We need to study, teach, and prac-
tice tolerance and instil it in our chil-
dren, both through education and our
own example.” When asked about the
workings of the Ministry of Tolerance
she headed until a short while back,
Sheikha Lubna reiterates the vision of
her country’s enlightened leadership.
“Usually ministries are formed to solve
a problem or address a lacuna, but the
Emirates has 200 nationalities living
in co-existence so that one may won-
der about the need for a ministry like
this,” she smiles. “Tolerance is a leg-
acy from our founders,” she explains.
“The foundation of UAE is based on
coexistence, and this is the reason
our country thrives with people from
all over the world living and working
there. Moreover, moderate Islam advo-
cates tolerance and co-existence for all
nations, and we believe it is important
to preserve this legacy.” In the face of
violence, terrorism, negative rhetoric
and blame shaming, she says, it has be-
come imperative that governments play
an active role in guiding and educating
their people on the values of inclusivity
and coexistence. “There has been a rise
in populism and hate speech. Values
have started to erode worldwide. We
have to remind ourselves that societies
cannot exist on just moving forward
without preserving our values, which
are our assets. Other nations can adopt
the national programme for tolerance
followed by the UAE. We aspire that
others will follow our example. This
policy stands on certain pillars which
includes the principle that government
is an incubator for tolerance. For ex-
ample, the UAE has laws against hate
speech and discrimination, especially
on social media. The other thing the
UAE concentrates on is the youth.
Today, young people live in a virtual
world where they are more influenced
by others than their parents. We have to
immunize the kids by instilling values
in them, something we took for granted
while growing up,” said Sheikha Lub-
na who is also the President of Zayed
University. “We have to carry out an
immunization program that will remind
people of the essence of their nation-
alism, identity and community,” she
continues. To strengthen their ‘immu-
nization’ programme, the UAE has cre-
ated a charter for teachers forbidding
them from influencing students with
their personal views and limiting their
role to the curriculum alone. “We also
focus on cohesive families,” she adds.
“Families are no longer the same, and it
is important that kids are close to their
SPECIAL REPORT
Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi
Reaching for our roots
A TRAILBLAZER
ON TOLERANCE
Other nations can adopt the national programme for tolerance followed by
the UAE which includes the principle that government is an incubator for tol-
erance. For example, the UAE has laws against hate speech and discrimina-
tion, especially on social media. The other thing the UAE concentrates on is the
youth. Today, young people live in a virtual world where they are more influ-
enced by others than their parents. We have to immunize the kids by instilling
values in them, something we took for granted while growing up. We have to
carry out an immunization program that will remind people of the essence of
their nationalism, identity and community. The UAE has created a charter for
teachers forbidding them from influencing students with their personal views.
community and family. And lastly, we
work on enriching cultural content. To-
day, there is a lot of negativity on the
internet, and the only way to counteract
this is to remind people of the values
of civilization and co-existence. We
should celebrate our differences and
not criticize. For example, last month,
the UAE celebrated Diwali, with our
Indian friends. It was a big deal for
us. This is the essence and reason for a
By Chaitali B. Roy
Special to the Arab Times
‘
’
strong programme for tolerance in the
UAE,” she explains.
The United Arab Emirates, Oman and
Bahrain have been proactive in their
pursuit of tolerant societies, but why
is the rest of the Gulf lagging behind?
Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi, the consum-
mate diplomat, answers, “The cultural
context of every country in the Gulf is
different. Even in the UAE, the North-
ern Emirates is different from Dubai and
society
Abu Dhabi. It is easy to build high-rises,
but it takes time to change the culture
and mindsets of nations. You don’t want
to accelerate a process of change that
doesn’t suit the nation, as it may back-
fire,” she warns. She also examines the
tendency of people to focus on the nega-
tives of a country and not acknowledge
and appreciate its achievements. “Saudi
Arabia has been criticized for not giving
their women the right to drive, well, they
are driving now,” she argues. “Few peo-
ple talk about what is good about Saudi
Arabia. Not many people know that
Saudi women are some of the wealthiest
in the region. They run establishments,
and their right to run organizations has
always been there. They are smart, mod-
ern women, but instead of appreciating
that the world is nitpicking. Give them a
breathing chance,” she urges.
Every country, she says, aims to build
a happy society, and the journey it un-
dertakes to achieve that goal depends
on its cultural conditioning. “Perhaps,
in the West, a happy democratic society
can be achieved through elections, but
here in the Gulf, we do it though open
majlises, development programmes that
put people at the centre of the services.
In the end, one achieves the same goal
as the West, but the methodology is dif-
ferent. And who is to judge which meth-
odology is right?” she asks.
Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi’s re-
sponses are precise, clear and analyti-
cal, in keeping with her background in
information technology. Did she find
it difficult to bridge the gap between
IT and politics? “If you think about it,
technology is not just about coding,”
she smiles. “The essence of my job for
twenty years was to transform organi-
zations by raising their efficiency and
making them more profitable. You do
the same when you move to a govern-
ment organization. As an engineer, I
assess an organization, search out gaps
if any and then try to resolve those
gaps. I had the responsibility of creat-
ing ministries. I did it with the help of
a business model before it went into ‘a
delivery and maintain’ mode. I finished
my job in three to four years. Looking
back I feel that computer engineering
is the best background for one to get
into government service,” smiled the
woman who led her country into a pe-
riod of unprecedented philanthropy as
the Minister of International Coopera-
tion and Development.
Despite being ranked among the most
powerful women in the world several
years in a row, there is no arrogance in
the woman who has played a signifi-
cant role in her country’s diversification
plans and helped to pull it out of the
dark phase of recession. Sheikha Lubna
Al Qasimi is a study in simplicity and
amiability and has a hands-on approach
to leadership. Developing human capital
is her forte, and she believes in walking
the talk, thus becoming a role model
for her people. “In every organization I
am asked to lead, I say I do not own the
chair I sit on. The organization will go
on even after I have left. The most im-
portant task for me is to focus on people.
I identify people who work and contrib-
ute, and I also work on people who may
think they are limited, by enhancing
their knowledge. I have to give an op-
portunity to my people to prove them-
selves. I have to give them a chance,”
she reiterates.
It could not have been easy for
Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi to shoul-
der the responsibility of being the first
woman cabinet minister of a country
rooted in traditions and defined gen-
der roles. “Before I joined the cabinet,
I managed Tijari, a startup company
with 18 employees. And then I inherited
300 employees when I joined the gov-
ernment. Moreover, I was given a very
heavy portfolio. Economy and planning
is the bloodline of the country. I tell you
I could not sleep for three weeks,” she
laughs in recollection. “I had sleepless
nights, and I would think, ‘Oh my God!
I am going to fail my country. How
will I ever do this?’ One day I woke up
early morning at 4 am. I sat on my bed,
and it dawned on me that I was given
this responsibility by the leaders of my
country and there is no way they would
leave me in a lurch. They would be there
to support me. They would make sure I
succeed. A sense of relief overcame me,
and I succeeded in redirecting my en-
ergy. That was an ‘aha’ moment in my
life,” she smiles.
Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi has played
her part in steering the United Arab
Emirates through difficult times into an
era of unprecedented prosperity. She
has also been a powerful role model for
women in her country and the region
not only with the efficiency and purpose
with she carried out her responsibilities
but with her effective straddling of the
old and the new, the traditional and the
modern. When asked about her views
on the present role of Emirati women,
she remarks, “When I was appointed the
first woman minister, I aimed to ensure
that there would come a time when there
would be so many of them that my pres-
ence would not be required. That time
came a few days back when I stepped
down. Today we have nine women min-
isters in the UAE, and most of them are
young and aspiring. My job was to build
a bridge, and I did that. It is unfair for
any woman to sit on a job and not be
there for the young ones. Our job is to
leave a legacy, and the best legacy you
can leave are people who become lead-
ers themselves.”