DUBAI // High-achieving UAE women were feted on Friday night at an awards gala hosted by the Indian Television Academy.
The event was the first in a series of ceremonies planned around the world as a parallel event to the Gr8! Women Awards, which have been held yearly in India for a decade.
Houria Kazim, 52, the first female Emirati surgeon, who specialises in breast disease, said she was most proud of having built her practice in Dubai from scratch after returning in 1998 from training and working abroad.
"I didn't even have a speciality that existed," she said.
During her early years in the profession it was difficult to be one of the few females, she said. But now her gender has proven a plus because many patients feel more comfortable around her than around a male breast surgeon, she said.
She credited support from her parents for her success, and government opportunities that allowed her to get a good education.
She also credited hard work.
"I have no time off," she said. Some of her few opportunities to get away are when she travels for conferences, she said, half joking.
Dr Kazim said she also drew inspiration from breast cancer patients who managed to juggle work and family while struggling with the disease.
Wafa Tarnowska, 54 and Lebanese-Australian, was recognised for her achievements in corporate social responsibility at the law firm DLA Piper in Dubai.
At the firm, she championed a programme to provide legal and financial assistance and seed money for 20 female entrepreneurs in Al Ain. Another programme trains young Emirati lawyers and sponsors them for mock trial competitions in the US and Britain.
At her urging, the firm went green. It recycles everything from cans to computers, it plants trees to offset its carbon footprint from air travel and it installed a system to automatically switch off lights and computers not in use.
"We are the conscience of our companies," Ms Tarnowska said in her acceptance speech as she described her passion for corporate social responsibility.
Before taking the job in 2007, though, she had worked as a headhunter, teacher and journalist and lived in the UK, India, Poland, Australia, Cyprus and Lebanon.
She has also written several children's books - one of her proudest accomplishments besides corporate social responsibility, she said.
chuang@thenational.ae
High-achieving UAE women feted
The first in a series of ceremonies planned around the world celebrated high-achieving UAE women
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