Dubai Women's College holds women and empowerment conference

The conference, sponsored by DP World, brings together more than one hundred Emirati and international students in order to discuss and exchange knowledge on women issues.

Organized for the fourth time, Insight Dubai aims at expanding participants' global awareness regarding differing views on selected women's issues and exploring Arabic governance structures and legal systems. The interactive style of the conference also allows its participants to dispel cultural myths about women and facilitate lasting bonds and networks between conference participants through academic, cultural and entertainment experiences.

"Based on the feedback we had received from previous years' participants, Insight Dubai helped in changing participants' views about women in the Arab region and enhanced local students' knowledge of Arabic governance structures," said Dr. Monica Gallant, Business Department Chair at DWC. "The conference aligns with DWC's strategic priorities of keeping pace with Dubai and providing global-based experiences to our students where Emirati and international students interacted together in small groups and engaged in simulations, role plays, debates and discussions in order maximize knowledge gained from participating in the conference."

Insight Dubai witnessed this year increased international students' participation with fifty five students coming from Italy, Afghanistan, Rwanda, India, Bangladesh, Egypt, Pakistan, Turkey, Palestine, France, USA, Poland, Germany, Zimbabwi, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Australia, Latvia, Kenya, Mexico, Lebanon, and Nepal.

Emirati and international students will interact in a large variety of activities including participation as a foreign diplomat in a simulated United Nations Security Council crisis, role playing a Sharia Court case, and acting as a participant in a Majlis discussing an important global issue. Panel discussions regarding local issues such as leadership of women in the Middle East in the general and the United Arab Emirates in particular, as well as site visits to the Islamic Art Exhibition at Emirate Palace, the Zayed Grand Mosque, the Federal National Council, and the Heritage Village will add to the participants' understanding of the local environment.

The program also includes several contributions by Arab women leaders such as Habiba Al Marashi, Chair of the Emirates Environmental Group, Dr. May Al Dabbagh, a Research Fellow at the Dubai School of Government, Dr. Houriya Kazim, Maya Hojeij, a Business News presenter at Al Arabiya News Channel, Dina Saleh, a Researcher and Entrepreneur, Noor Sweid, Managing Director of Strategy at Depa United Group, and Samira Gargash, Advocate and Legal Consultant.