Inclusion and Recognition Drive Progress and Accomplishment

KUALA LUMPUR, 6 SEPTEMBER 2019 — Today has been a profound and unique experience for women of varying backgrounds, nations and industries to come together to be recognised for their achievments and to spread their knowledge. During the day, the Muslim World Women’s Summit was concluded at Kuala Lumpur Convention centre.

In the evening, The Muslim World Rania Award 2019 was presented to twelve prominent woman leader from different OIC member countries. The official award ceremony was attended by dignitaries, business leaders, and VIPs. The Guest of Honour was H.E. Sheikha Hind Bint Abdul Aziz Al-Qasimi, Member of Sharjah Royal Family and Chairman of BPW- Emirates Business Club.

The award is being integrated into the Musiim World Biz for the second year running. The Muslim World Rania Award is presented to recognise and appreciate the rights of all women around the world by showing examples of outstanding Muslim women who face enormous challenges along the way towards success and excellence. It is designed to celebrate the success and achievements of the awarded women. It also emphasises the role women play to attain comprehensive development of their communities.

The Guest of Honour, who is a successful well-known business leader not only in the United Arab Emirates but also in other countries worldswide, congratulated the winners and the organisers on achieving this wonderful success and stressed the need to enhance women’s participation and recognise their contributions to every aspet of life. H.E. Sheikha Hind also spoke about the bright examples of women empowerment in the Middle East, especially in the UAE, where two of the award winners this year come form.

In her opening remarks, Dr Laila Rani binti Dato’ Dr Raja Mohamad Abdullah, Chairman of the Muslim World Rania Award, mentioned that the significance of incorporating award in this trade event has many facets including the need to signify women’s contributions to various industries, which directly enhance the economic growth of their communities. Also, the award “proves that women’s participation in business exceeds the operational level, as many women currently hold top management positions in many big organisations,” she said.

“Equally significant, and perhaps more important, is that this award ceremony sends a clear message to all those accusing Islam of being unjust to women. In fact, the teachings of Islam give women equal rights and calls for their efforts to be recognised and rewarded,” Dr Laila emphasised as she congratulated all the celebrated women leaders.

This ceremony followed the second day of the Muslim World Women’s Summit 2019. It remains a powerful platform for women who are leaders in their community through academia, business, social development and political representation. Yesterday, the first day of the conference, proved to be a fruitful engagement between all participants. Today further enhanced the intellectual and strategic dialogue to bring a realistic element to future development and current challenges.

During the first session of the second day of the Muslim World Women’s summit, Y.Bhg. Tan Sri Rafida Aziz, Senior Independent non-Excutive Chairman of AirAsia X, will share her views of the fundamental elements women should be aware of to break the so called “glass ceiling” which she firmly asserted does not exits except in the minds of women who accepted to follow what other people plan for them. Tan Sri Rafida also responded to several questions by the participants during the session which lasted for over 1.5 hours.

Further insights on how women could achieve excellence in the rapid- changing and complex business environment of the 21st century will be discussed in the second session of the day. The panellists are senior experienced academicians who have been researching the topic of enhancing the digital skills of women from the 57 OIC countries. Historically, women have been constrained from achieving the highest leadership positions.

The final session of the Muslim World Women’s Summit puts a spotlight on the how Muslim women can become globally competent, especially in view of the negative perception and sterotypes against them. The speakers are actually Muslim women who have been well-recognised on various global platforms. They agreed that there is a need to for everyone to work together not only to recover from crises, but also to push forward the growth and prosperity.

Today, the third day of the 9th Muslim World Biz, was also the last day of the Muslim World Trade Exhibition 2019. Over the course of the event strong and lasting business relationships were formed, which will go on to provide economic benefits for nations around the world and specifically the OIC member countries. The wide array of products and services showcased to traders and the public demonstrated a glimpse of the healthy and robust industries that keep our economies growing.