Taryam and Abdullah Omran Award winners

Hani Okal, Staff Reporter

Dr Jamal Sanad Al Suwaidi, Director General of the Emirates Centre for Strategic Studies and Research, won the Taryam and Abdullah Omran Press Award in its 6th version of 2018, for his article in Al Ittihad newspaper, under the headline “Arabic Language under Change .. Difficulties and Challenges”.

Al Ain News Portal, headed by Dr Ali Rashid Al Nuaimi, won the e-press award.

Marwa Mohammed Hussein of “Kul Al Usra” magazine, published by the Dar Al Khaleej Press, Printing and Publishing won the Journalistic Dialogue Award for her dialogue with Lieutenant General Dhahi Khalfan, in which she committed to objectivity and professional standards of the basics of press interviews.

Ashraf Jamal, of “Al Emarat Al Youm,” won the investigative award for an investigation he conducted under the name of “Qatari platforms publishing lies in cyberspace”, in which he committed to impartiality and journalistic quality.

Kamal Kassim, photographer of Gulf Today, won the photojournalism award for a portrait of the UAE and its natural beauty.

It is worth mentioning that the number of participants in the current version of the Award amounted to 120, including 50 participating in the investigative field, 30 for dialogue, 13 for the article, 12 for photography and 10 for the column.

Khalid Abdullah Taryam, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Taryam and Abdullah Omran Foundation for cultural and humanitarian works, congratulated the winners, saying that honouring is proof that the press is fine and goes on to wider horizons of responsibility and professionalism.

Taryam added that the UAE press has the attention and support of the wise leadership and the various members of the community and will continue to be a source of official and diverse news, noting that the allocation of awards for the achievements of journalists is stimulating competition.

He pointed out that the Foundation is keen to develop the award to keep abreast of the rapid developments in the world of journalism after the launch of the electronic press which has become an alternative to the print medium, believing that the electronic press platform is an effective and influential news medium.

Taryam indicated that most of the participations were presented by journalists working in media inside the UAE, while a few were presented by journalists from the GCC countries, inviting everyone to participate in the next version.

He noted that the Board of Trustees of the Foundation is considering proposals to change some of the fields of the Award in its 17th version, aiming to expand participation.

The jury of the Award including Aysha Sultan, General Manager of “ Dar Waraq” Publishing House, Dr Mohammed Ayesh, Head of Mass Communication at the American University of Sharjah, and Mohammed Almezel, Editor-in-Chief of Gulf News, met on April 15, 2019 at the headquarters of Taryam and Abdullah Omran Foundation of the cultural and humanitarian works to examine and evaluate the works presented.

The Award will be presented to winners on Saturday 27 April 2019 at the headquarters of Dar Al Khaleej in Sharjah, in conjunction with the launching of the 19th Annual Conference of the Gulf Centre for Studies under the title “Emirati Women .. Status and Empowerment.”

The opening speech will be delivered by Sheikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Tolerance, followed by a welcoming speech by Khalid Abdullah Omran Taryam, Chairman of Dar Al Khaleej, and Aysha Abdullah Omran Taryam, Editor in Chief of Gulf Today.

The first session of the conference will discuss policy components of the Emirati women’s empowerment politically, economically, culturally, occupationally and others. Dr Maitha Bint Salem Al Shamsi, Minister of State, will present a research paper on the theme, while the session will be moderated by Dr Khalid Omar Al Midfa, Chairman of Sharjah Media City (Shams).

Tools for empowering Emirati women (legislation, laws, education, media, etc.) are the theme of the second session.