Dubai: Empowerment of women and people with special needs, the environment and education are some of the issue that Asma Khalifa Al Mezaina, one of the Federal National Council (FNC) candidates, hopes to impact if she wins in the upcoming election.
Asma, who works as a researcher at the Ministry of Economy, is running for candidacy in Dubai.
“I wanted to nominate myself since the first elections in 2006, but my name was not on the list until this year. To me this is a way to give back to my country that has given so much. I feel it is my duty to serve my country and help in its development,” she said.
She said that she has been receiving a lot of support from her family, especially her husband. “He supports me and he is the one who encouraged me to enter the FNC, and actively helps out with my campaign.”
The FNC election campaigning period runs up to September 30, followed by the elections on October 3.
The preliminary results are expected to be announced on October 3, while the final list of winners will be declared on October 11, if no election run-offs are required.
Asma, who has a masters in international relations from Durham University, said that she has five main goals: women empowerment, the environment and public safety, strengthening the family unit, maintaining the quality of services in the country, and education.
“One thing I learnt from my friend who worked in the government in the UK that I am hoping to implement here is teaching people to budget so they do not run out of money by the end of the month or fall into debt,” she said.
She said her friend would personally go to people’s homes in the UK, sit with families and explain the importance of budgeting and teach them how to do it. “I want to do the same; this is part of my plan to study the standard of living and come up with recommendations to improve it, with a focus on women, retirees and people with special needs,” Asma said.
Education is the cornerstone of any country’s development, she said, that is why it is one of the areas she will focus on if she gets elected.
“I will work on developing teachers’ skills through training, also revising teachers’ retirement laws, working with various organisations to develop educational programmes, teaching students self-learning and research skills and working to have more scope for creativity in schools,” Asma said.
Asma said she is focusing on social media to promote herself. “I am campaigning mainly through social media and I will be posting in various Arabic newspapers. There will also be interviews on TV and radio channels and talks at different civil society organisations.”
She said that outdoor advertising is expensive, and she feels that donating this money to charity would be better.
“I am very passionate about the environment. If I am elected I’ll work on raising the public’s environmental awareness, and work with government and civil entities as well as interested individuals in preserving the environment and protecting the UAE’s natural reserves and architectural heritage,” Asma said.
Public health and safety is also one of her concerns, saying that she will work on reinforcing food control.
Supporting legislation that benefits women empowerment in general, especially working women, divorced women, widows and fresh graduates is also on her agenda.
“Reducing working hours for mothers so they can spend more time raising their children who will become future leaders in their fields, early retirement for women, longer maternity leave and more nurseries at government department to support working women are some of the issues that I will work on,” she said.
Asma said she is proud to be one of the 76 UAE women contesting to be part of the FNC.
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