Aqdar World Summit in Moscow to discuss community empowerment

The third edition of the Aqdar World Summit is set to kick off this August in the Russian capital, Moscow, featuring a high-profile UAE delegation taking part to discuss the global empowerment of communities.

Held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, the four-day summit is held under the theme, ‘Global Empowerment of Communities: Experiences and Lessons learned’.

Running from August 29 to September 1, 2019, participants will discuss pressing topics on empowerment of communities from human to the intellectual and cultural dimensions in a way that would grant a flourished, secure, and stable future for all nations. The 4-day event includes a number of activities featuring a main conference, a global exhibition, workshops, and various panel discussions.

The third edition of Aqdar World Summit, running parallel to the Moscow Global Forum, features a unique participation of 12 high-profile UAE officials including eight ministers led by Lt. General Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior, who will deliver the opening ceremony keynote speech.

The UAE delegation will discuss various topics related to human empowerment in fields like, education, culture, technology, and others while focusing on 3 main topics; Education and National Service: The Fundamentals for Empowering UAE Youth, The Technical, Intellectual, and Food Security: The Strategic Pillars to Empower Communities and Youth - The UAE Model, and The Role of the Advanced Sciences and Future Projects in Empowering and Improving the Well-Being of Communities.

Speaking about the Summit, Brigadier Mohammed Hamid Dalmouj Al Dhaheri, Head of the Office of Deputy Prime Minister of Interior, said, “The UAE is always keen to open channels of cooperation and spread peace around the world in order to achieve successful human development in various fields like science, empowerment and development, as this is part of our core principles and concerns that shape our national journey and define our aspirations for a more prosperous future.”

This will be the first time the Aqdar World Summit will be held overseas, noted the Summit’s Executive Chairman Dr. Abdul Al Salam Al Madani, who expressed his confidence in hosting the event in Moscow to help create new grounds for cooperation between the UAE and Russia, particularly in human empowerment and sustainability.

Commenting on the partnership between United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, UNODC, and Aqdar, Judge Dr. Hatem Aly, Special Representative of the UN Deputy Secretary-General, and the Executive Director of UNODC for the Gulf Region, said, “Through its long-standing strategic partnership with the Ministry of Interior of the United Arab Emirates, UNODC is closely engaged with the Khalifa Empowerment Programme for Students and the Aqdar Initiative to promote and support the empowerment of communities for safer societies and crime prevention.”

“Aqdar World Summit is a major platform that facilitates exchange of knowledge and experiences in reducing vulnerability and reinforcing community resilience and promoting a just, peaceful and inclusive society. UNODC seeks to achieve security and justice for all by helping member states and their peoples to guard against the serious threats posed by drugs, crime and terrorism,” Dr. Aly noted.

He added, “Prevention is an important aspect of responses to crime and violence. It necessitates that we understand and address the root causes of crime and violence as well as the risk factors associated with them, and that we focus on the societies’ strengths. To this end, multi-sector partnerships are essential to foster inclusive, resilient and law-abiding societies.”

The summit this year features 25 workshops tackling various topics related to global empowerment of communities organised by a number of UAE companies and organisations.

Omar bin Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, will discuss the topic “Artificial Intelligence: The UAE Portal to the Future”. Since his appointment as the first Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence in 2017, the UAE is planning to furiously compete in this leading field as it is a gateway to a sustainable society capable of achieving comprehensive development in all fields.

The UAE is looking to utilize the artificial intelligence’s applications in solving problems and overcoming the current and future challenges in all vital sectors and raise its operational efficiency to serve the interests of all members of the society.

The second day will also feature the participation of Mariam Bint Mohammed Saeed Hareb Al Mehairi, Minister of State for Food Security, in a session titled “UAE Food Security Strategy for the Next Generations”.

The UAE government launched the National Food Security Strategy in November 2018, to develop a comprehensive national system based on enabling sustainable food production. This strategy also includes 38 major short and long-term initiatives that seek to make the UAE the world’s best in the Global Food Security Index by 2051 and among the top 10 countries by 2021.

WAM