ABU DHABI // Using her educational background in sociology and social services, Dr Mona Al Bahar has made a difference in people’s lives through her role in the Federal National Council.
She says she never expected to hold such a position, and her reaction to the news surprised many.
“I wasn’t even working on it, it was not on my mind,” says Dr Al Bahar, who was appointed. “The fact that Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid chose me was a valuable moment, it is an honour. I didn’t react much, it was a late phone call and I just said ‘thank you’. I sat and I thought ‘Is this what I heard?’. I immediately told my family and they were happy. It was a good feeling.
“I think I was chosen because I am known in the community as an academic, especially in my field,” she says. “My role in social issues, those having relation to the family, the child, the mother, having come from an academic background that made me more wanted, I believe.”
Dr Al Bahar jumped into her new role, and became head of the educational, cultural and media committee.
There, discussions range from the importance of scientific research to changes in media law.
“To me, I put extra effort in the child protection law. I need to feel people’s needs, both the family and the child, see what they want. That is how we can produce a complete law,” she says.
Dr Al Bahar also focuses on women’s pension issues and health services.
In the near future, she would like to focus on psychological and emotional services.
“What are the available services now, and to look into mental health issue and what are its approaches,” she says.
“We noticed there is a need for such a service, and I believe there should be clear plans in fighting the increase of mental and emotional issues. We need practical research and solutions.”
Dr Al Bahar feels holding the parliamentary position means she has to make a difference. She says she always tries to serve the people “in any way possible” and her number is always available.
“I feel, with pure sincerity, if I don’t make that change, then I will see that I have failed myself in this mission before the people. This is why I see what people want. I sit among women and listen to them, I don’t hesitate.”
Dr Al Bahar says she has a good experience in the council.
“I am very happy. The experience is enriching. Dealing with the laws is a new experience to me, reading them, discussing them and criticising them, has added to my experience. Being a regulatory body also introduced me to new aspects of things, to look at things in a different light,” she says.
“We have to see what each emirate requires, what one emirate needs is different from another.
“That makes you look at things differently, to think what could use more work.”
Her personality and way of thinking has changed after her three years in the council.
“It is different when you work on something academic, practical or on an individual level, one person to another, yet when you look at the view from the top of the mountain, you see everything unravel in front of you.
“This type of understanding is more holistic,” she says.
aalkhoori@thenational.ae
