H.H. Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak, leader of the women movement in the UAE, is the ideal model whom the women of UAE adopt to look through at the external world. She is the daughter of the Arab dignity with its all traditions and sublime values in her progressive enlightenment and unlimited confidence in her country’s girls and their ability in contribution and creativity. 

In her respect to her country and its growing society, who looks forward to a well illuminated future for all citizens. H.H. stays the symbol of values, and traditions. Every noble attribute she has gives you a big experience that makes you feel lively as her country’s women have achieved incredible things during a standard period of time, where they began the comprehensive and vital contribution in building their country and raising its flag highly. In favor of H.H. efforts that are the most outstanding feature of the feminine work march which is led by her, the women of the UAE have always been desirous to achieve balance between having the modern means of development and respecting the instructions of our religion and Arab traditions.

The women in the UAE have passed a long period of history and lived with their feminine leader together imitating her way of vitality, activity and achievement in the society through her efforts and her faith until she raised the banner of the women growth in the sky of the homeland highly.

Leader of Fabulous Donation:

The renaissance in the UAE included all fields of life, and man has still been the most important core of development side by side with the state’s modernity. The will of Emarati man could shorten the time, and pass the natural development that had been achieved by other nations to emerge his growth as including the economic, social, cultural, and political fields of life. The power of will has been embodied through insistence and persistence of man of the UAE to recompense what he has lost, and start determinately the process of building, evolution and comprehensive growth.

The women on the other hand is participating nowadays with the men side by side in their movement which the history has witnessed and recorded with magnificence of performance, glory of achievement, and determination of leadership doing the promised constructions and managing the acquired wealth of the country.

Therefore, H.H. Sheikh Zayed hasn’t spared any effort or any way to make the Emarati man the axis of every sort of development. H.H. Sheikha Fatima on the same way is supporting these great efforts to give the woman all the care necessary for their growth.

Through an organized work, she devoted most of her time for women associations percepting the role of women in the movement of building the society. She opened her house for the ladies of her country in order to exchange and communicate with them their opinions and consultancies. So that house turned into a cultural forum which has paved the way for the first feminine assembly. H.H. Sheikha Fatima has devoted these assemblies for valuable works and duties as she paid attention and considered the best positions that women should occupy and perform well.

 

H.H. Sheikh Zayed supported the noble efforts that were to achieve the national great targets so he encouraged his wife H.H. Sheikha Fatima to practice the social work and leadership of the feminine activity. He found her enthusiastic and acceptant, because she realized effectively the role of women in building the country and achieving the comprehensive growth.

H.H. Sheikha Fatima led the feminine movement employing all rich sides in her personality such as  charity and donation, and chose the difficult way to be really the ideal model of the her country’s charitable women. Similarly she didn’t ignore her role at home obeying her husband and caring about her children.

H.H. Sheikha Fatima is distinguished by her noble leadership of the feminine movement in her country. She has the real ability of determination, will strength, hard work, and as well belief in Allah the Almighty. Her interest is concentrated on the country’s affairs especially those of women as the state doesn’t advance without its other half. She holds seminars and makes sessions and workshops to integrate the efforts of the country’s women and let them all be of one interest appearing here and there all over the country. H.H. opened her house widely and hospitably to meet the feminine delegations which were established by the Emarati women in order to unite their efforts to collect them in one melting pot targeting the support of the structured aspects of construction and growth depending on her faith that Allah helps the community.

The cultural and social donation is done continuously by the support of H.H. Sheikh Zayed and his wife H.H. Sheikha Fatima. The feminine movement was driven ahead to occupy advanced positions in the state’s policy as they were provided them with all necessary human cadres and supplied with knowledge and social consciousness hoping that women would be an effectively participating factor in overcoming difficulties of undevelopment which included a big percentage of women in the UAE who would certainly have a vital role in solving the country’s affairs.

H.H. Sheikha Fatima welcomed all the tasks that were committed to announce that all works she had carried out in the feminine association and women union were a result of the instructions and encouragement of H.H. Sheikh Zayed supporting the women in the UAE.

H.H. Sheikh Zayed has been the sublime ideal model of H.H. Sheikha Fatima in donation and charity. All the women in UAE therefore expect a sublime role to participate with H.H. Sheikh Zayed and his men to catch up with the civilizational processes so they have arranged the quietness and settlement of circumstances to secure the vital work conditions for the leaders and the men of the country and cooperated as well as possible to realize the required aspects and to go forward in the way of progress and development. The donation of H.H. Sheikha Fatima has expanded generously until it reaches every woman in the UAE, and she doesn’t hesitate to offer help to every woman or girl in the Islamic and Arab World.

Her faith is reflected on her equanimity of behavior and wisdom. Her religious principles make her love humanity and offer what she can of kindness and sympathy as she doesn’t leave any child in any nursery house without asking about his/her status. It is actually the way of H.H. to put all inspirations and dreams into practice to unite the achievements of her country’s members. Man is the main factor for every progress and the most valuable wealth for the country.

The efforts were collected and ways developed in the field of feminine organization resulting in establishing the General Women Union in the UAE in 1973 as all parties of the society agreed on the necessity of activating these efforts and ways to enter the world of modernization and development efficiently.

 The objects on the other hand were sublime and the aims were clear. The most important of them was to develop the Arab women in the Arab countries spiritually, culturally and socially and also help her to take the reasons of personal and social construction in order to participate ultimately in the Arab National growth according to their natural characteristics and responsibilities as daughters, sisters, wives and mothers, and also according to the Arab-Islamic values and traditions. Therefore it was necessary that the feminine activity should cover all the Emirates to support the comprehensive growth of the country.

 It is in addition necessary to co-operate with other women unions in the co-operative council and Arab countries to support their institutions’ activities and objectives. This is the way to develop the Arab women spiritually, and culturally; emancipating her illiteracy; educating her; and arranging her all health, technical, sport and educational activities. Of course we can learn this from H.H. Sheikh Zayed when he addresses the Emarati women in great speeches that are aware and conscious like a lamp in the darkness that lighten every way, and that give you various things, foremost, to know your duties towards your nation, and family at present and future. The direction of H.H. Sheikh Zayed was like a promotion for women to complete their education, and as H.H. Sheikha Fatima said to the Emarati women that education comes in the first rank of priorities  of life which are education, marriage and work.

 Therefore the educated women can be successful wives, virtuous mothers, and capable members in the society to serve their country after choosing marriage or work according to their private circumstances.

 H.H. Sheikha Fatima has a great wishes and supreme ambitions, the greatest of them is that the working women fulfill the needs of their society in all fields of work and production. The women’s work is defined as H.H. Sheikha Fatima says not to go away from our Islamic values and Arab traditions that are still the spirit of life and not to forget the past with its all features of heritage, because  we learn from it many various lessons.

 H.H. Sheikh  Fatima found the Emarati women as the ideal  ones who know how to dive into the depths of life and catch the most beautiful things to add them to their lives and their country. The words of H.H. Sheikha Fatima are still in the minds; “Time of impossibility is to stand having our arms folded, leaving things running around us and letting time steal us.  What we have lost, I think, is enough, and it is high time to be more developed. We have to compensate this by exerting big efforts up to  our nature far from the blind imitation for every new thing and far from the strict refusal for every beneficial and useful thing.

 In this manner the Emarati women under the patronage of H.H. Sheikha Fatima could pass the difficult test in a standard period of time, and to climb up so they could be professors, doctors, employees, teachers, announcers and engineers, but the reality of the UAE’s women, as H.H. Sheikha Fatima addressed, should be of less talking and more working more consciously to stand hard in all circumstances and perform well all duties. Each woman has to help her sister who has missed the opportunity of education to be both together on the same level at the ladder of civilization and progression.

First Charitable Lady:

The history will record the pioneer role of H.H. Sheikha Fatima in the field of the feminine work, and the coming generations will read throughout time that H.H. Sheikha Fatima has founded the first women association at the beginning of the year 1973.

The generations will read that she is the founder of the Abu Dhabi Women  Society that is the first feminine organization in the country defining the work steps and the way it follows in order to fulfill its mission at all points, offering all kinds of required support.

 Also the generations will read that throughout a short time she could realize the great dream when all feminine efforts succeeded to establish one women union including all feminine associations in the state on the 27th of August 1975 as a historical day in the life of Emarati woman. It is the birth day of the first feminine union in the country, and the history will record since that day the General Women Union, under the leadership of H.H. Sheikha Fatima, could realize a lot of hopes that were held by our country on this union especially the social, cultural, health and economic aspects of growth of women.

 This made them participate and remain participating in the construction of the modern Emarati society. The historical role that H.H. Sheikha Fatima has carried out has an echo in the international occasions. For example, she received in 1986 the shield of  United Nations from the UN Fund of Population appreciating her participation in the field of the demographic growth and prosperity. In addition, H.H. received the Silver Fish Medal, which is considered as the most highly ranked medal for guides in Egypt honoring her support to the guides’ movement in the UAE, and she was the third woman to gain this medal from the queen of Sweden and from Mrs. Suzan Mubarak, wife of His Excellency Husni Mubarak, president of Egypt.

 Late King Hussein of Jordan granted H.H. Sheikha Fatima the studded medal of growth esteeming for her praised characteristics and her pioneer roles that she carries out in sponsorship and achievement of women growth in the U.A.E, and for the support of annual activity and social care on the Arab  level. Queen nour Al Hussein decorated the medal to H.H. Sheikha Fatima on the 3rd of June 1989 ,which is the most eminent award granted to kings, presidents and their wives.

 In an initiative that is not recorded before, the spouses of fifty five chairmen of the accredited diplomatic missionaries and ambassadors from the Arab and foreign countries honored H.H. Sheikha Fatima on the 9th of April 1995 acknowledging her sublime role in developing and evoluting the women sector in the UAE, sponsoring orphans and handicapped, and building the society.

 The Nation’s Mirror magazine issued in Kuwait elected H.H. Sheikha Fatima on the 6th of April 1996 as the charitable lady of the year of 1995 not only for what she had submitted during the year 1995 of charitable deeds, but also because of her support, cooperation, and understanding the problems of people, and for her constant attempt to what is related to the feminine charitable work, and in addition to her outstanding role in all difficult circumstances that require courageous stand and active support.

Companion of Contention:

 When talking about her as a companion of contention and hard march as standing with the leader in all crucial attitudes, we have to indicate to some aspects of her personality to make generations recognize her well and to be the ideal for them.

 It is enough to say that she hasn’t changed her manners since she was a little girl until she became the first lady of her country. She hasn’t abandoned her traditions and customs at her family life concerning in everything related to her husband and children. H.H. Sheikha Fatima studied linguistic principals of the Arabic language in addition to her study of mathematics, history, geography and other cultural fields, beside the study of foreign languages especially English. Her education has varied in all fields of knowledge, science, literature, history of people and politics. Besides her interest in heritage, she has read a lot of the Arabic poetry.

 She carries her responsibility as a housewife, a mother and a wife of H.H. Sheikh Zayed besides her great responsibilities of creating happiness to her country girls.

 when talking  about H.H. Sheikha Fatima, we don’t talk about a woman who is in charge with a limited normal role, but a lady who has granted herself to her society and attempted from the very beginning of the UAE union to promote all and social cultural, political and intellectual associations to have a general range of development at all levels and areas.

Knowledge as a Major Priority:

H.H. Sheikha Fatima takes a great consideration for women in her country as mothers, workers, and students, and for children in her daily programs in regard with many fields of life.

H.H. doesn’t like to be as a merely witness on the reality, but an active builder and constructive developer who is interested through her personality and combination of values in showing the best thing. Therefore she cares about the importance of knowledge especially through science and  modern technology in building the society on a solid ground, “the concern in modern technology contributes to raise our women’s capability of theoretical and practical development, and  also offers a great deal of interest for the coming generations to achieve more progress for the society of the UAE”. She urged on the struggle of illiteracy saying: “It is the first enemy for progress as all members of the society individuals or groups have to attempt hard to get rid of this disease.

This is the lady who reformed the concept of the relation between the woman and her nation  and create a channel of mutual communication that is based upon understanding each other’s needs and duties.

H.H. Sheikha Fatima has followed the feminine work journey since its birth, so she sponsored the first women association in the UAE and attended the existence of Abu Dhabi Women Development Society, which was established in February of 1973. She took the responsibility of developing women at all levels through practical arranged means away from any abstracted theoretical fields. This feminine activity then was spread also in the northern Emirates where they got benefit from the experience of Abu Dhabi Women Society to have ultimately other five women associations:

1.    Dubai Women’s Development Society in 1973.

2.    Sharjah Women’s Development Society in 1973.

3.    Umm al-Qaiwain Women’s Development Society in 1973.

4.      Umm al-Mou’meneen Women’s Development Society in Ajman in 1974.

5.      Ras al-Khaimah Women’s Development Society in 1976.

 It became then necessary for these women institutions to unite their targets and merge their efforts. It has been important to arrange them through one consolidated union including all women associations all over the country and give them the feature of establishment to fulfill the needs of the Emarati woman activating her role in the society and developing her personality politically, socially and intellectually.

Thus, the General Women Union was established by the support and encouragement of H.H. Sheikha Fatima and under her leadership in the year 1975. It joined the General Arab Women Association since its establishment. “The contribution of woman in the development of the society gives her the opportunity to resume her role and to be an active member in it.” H.H. Sheikha Fatima affirmed.

We can say that the Women Union in the UAE was the first seed for the first clear and organized form of woman political practice that became later an obsession of H.H. Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak.