More than 100 women have been shortlisted as candidates for the Federal National Council elections.
The National Elections Commission on Saturday released the final list of candidates, state news agency Wam reported.
It comes a week after the UAE election committee announced the preliminary list of 309 candidates for the elections, due to take place on October 7.
There are 128 female candidates, making up 41 per cent of the total, while 36 candidates (11 per cent) are aged between 25 and 35.
Abu Dhabi has the largest number of election candidates at 118, Dubai has 57, Sharjah has 50 while Ajman, Ras Al Khaimah, Umm Al Quwain and Fujairah have 21, 24, 14 and 15, respectively.
There are 54 female candidates in Abu Dhabi, 27 in Dubai, 19 in Sharjah, 12 in Ajman, five each in Ras Al Khaimah and Umm Al Quwain, and six in Fujairah.
In 2019, there were 479 candidates, 182 of whom were women.
A full list of the candidates is available on the National Election Committee website.
In 2018, the late President Sheikh Khalifa directed that women occupy half of the seats of the council.
The ruling came into effect for the FNC's 17th legislative chapter, which began in November 2019.
The FNC, the UAE's consultative parliament, plays a pivotal role in shaping policies, fostering dialogue and ensuring the representation of Emirati voices at the national level.
Comprising 40 members – 20 elected representatives and 20 who are appointed – it provides a platform for discussions, debates and decision-making on matters of national importance.
Council members are drawn from all seven emirates and represent the views and concerns of the electorate on important local issues.
Electoral campaigns will begin on September 11 for 23 days, with the last date for candidates' withdrawal on September 26.
How to report a beggar
Abu Dhabi – Call 999 or 8002626 (Aman Service)
Dubai – Call 800243
Sharjah – Call 065632222
Ras Al Khaimah - Call 072053372
Ajman – Call 067401616
Umm Al Quwain – Call 999
Fujairah - Call 092051100 or 092224411
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Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
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'Young girls thinking of big ideas'
Words come easy for aspiring writer Afra Al Muhairb. The business side of books, on the other hand, is entirely foreign to the 16-year-old Emirati. So, she followed her father’s advice and enroled in the Abu Dhabi Education Council’s summer entrepreneurship course at Abu Dhabi University hoping to pick up a few new skills.
“Most of us have this dream of opening a business,” said Afra, referring to her peers are “young girls thinking of big ideas.”
In the three-week class, pupils are challenged to come up with a business and develop an operational and marketing plan to support their idea. But, the learning goes far beyond sales and branding, said teacher Sonia Elhaj.
“It’s not only about starting up a business, it’s all the meta skills that goes with it -- building self confidence, communication,” said Ms Elhaj. “It’s a way to coach them and to harness ideas and to allow them to be creative. They are really hungry to do this and be heard. They are so happy to be actually doing something, to be engaged in creating something new, not only sitting and listening and getting new information and new knowledge. Now they are applying that knowledge.”
Afra’s team decided to focus their business idea on a restaurant modelled after the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Each level would have a different international cuisine and all the meat would be halal. The pupils thought of this after discussing a common problem they face when travelling abroad.
“Sometimes we find the struggle of finding halal food, so we just eat fish and cheese, so it’s hard for us to spend 20 days with fish and cheese,” said Afra. “So we made this tower so every person who comes – from Africa, from America – they will find the right food to eat.”
rpennington@thenational.ae
Brief scores:
Scotland 371-5, 50 overs (C MacLeod 140 no, K Coetzer 58, G Munsey 55)
England 365 all out, 48.5 overs (J Bairstow 105, A Hales 52; M Watt 3-55)
Result: Scotland won by six runs
