Women As Global Leaders: Creating a Sustainable Future for the World

The American University of Kuwait (AUK) selected five female students to attend the 4th "Women as Global Leaders" conference at Zayed University in Abu Dhabi. The event was sponsored by Her Highness Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak. This year's conference theme "Creating a Sustainable Future for the World" focused on social, environmental, and economic aspects that would lead to a sustainable future.

Throughout the conference, reputable guest speakers gave speeches on leadership, climate change, women's role in society, etc. The delivered speeches were aimed at motivating young women to contribute positively to the development of their communities. H.E. Raja Al Gurg, Managing Director of the Easa Saleh Al Gurg Group, and one of the guest speakers said, "An empowered woman is the best catalyst to promote a sustainable future." Being mothers, sisters, daughters, employees, or employers, women play a major role in shaping the future of the world.

Another distinguished speaker, Sigourney Weaver, winning actress and environmentalist mentioned that women are 14 times more vulnerable to climate change than men. She urged women to seek education and compete to obtain decision making positions. According to Zeinab Badawi-BBC TV personality, one thing that makes women better leaders is their passion, Indicating that passion is a sign of a successful leader and not a weakness.

Furthermore, delegates of the conference were encouraged to attend assorted workshops and panel discussions with centric focus of the conference theme. The various lectures delivered were both practical and theoretical, engaging all participants to interact and integrate with each other towards sustainability.

Dalaa Al-Qahtan, a senior at AUK studying Computer Science was inspired by one of the panelists saying, "one speaker whom I wonât forget was Her Excellency Noura Al Kaabi the head of TwoFour54 Tawasol and human development, whom prior to that was an IT support manager at Zayed Military Hospital, the things she said were extremely motivating coming from another tech major, seeing that there is a future for female computer scientists/engineers in the Arab world especially it being a male dominated field."

One of the most rewarding aspects of this conference was having the opportunity to network with prominent women as well as female students from all around the world. Lujain Abu Zaid, an accounting and finance student at AUK said, "Observing Women coming from conservative backgrounds that fight for their rights wanting to leave their own fingerprint makes us wonder of the great power that lies within every women."

The conference was a great experience for the AUK delegation, allowing the students to learn about women around the world, and obtain a deeper understanding of leadership education.

Released by the Office of Public Affairs on the 12th April 2012

Photography by the Office of Public Affairs (C) 2012