UAE a role model for sustainable growth: Canada ex-pm

SHARJAH: Kim Campbell, Former Prime Minister of Canada, said that the UAE has set an example for the rest of the world in communicating its strategies for achieving sustainable development and economic growth.

In an interview with the Emirates News Agency (WAM), on the sidelines of the 11th edition of International Government Communication Forum (IGCF) held at Sharjah Expo Centre, Campbell affirmed that the UAE has utilised green resources such as non-oil industries to achieve sustainable development and transition into a green economy, adding that the country has been realistic in communicating its strategies at the local and global arenas.

“When governments communicate, the audience adjusts, and the credibility they gain in international forums is a direct reflection of the integrity of their domestic communications, as it makes it stronger as a country, globally, to be honest and courageous at the local level,” Campbell explained.

“If we use the resources to finance investments for the next stage, we don’t have to lose anything, but gain profoundly. IGCF highlights the courage, clarity, and desire to talk honestly about issues of common interest, and I think that is very important because it is not that easy,” she added.

Campbell, Canada’s first and only female Prime Minister, who served her term from 25th

June to 4th November, 1993, said women play an integral role in governments and add to the way they exercise their power and communicate with the public.

“Governments need to be representative of all aspects of society. They should be connected enough with people to communicate with them. When I was Justice Minister and legislating about gun control, I talked to people at a personal level and asked them questions directly. What women have been able to do is to bring an insight from the areas of the world that they are more familiar with. They bring their approaches and share them without hesitation, and this adds to the way governments exercise their power.”

The former Canadian prime minister highlighted the issues facing climate action and ways to achieve global communication through proper channels.

“Channels of communication on climate change, such as the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement, have been created to coordinate global efforts. We are identifying the barriers for good policy making, but we must create the constituencies to make a policy. We should not sweep the problem under the rug, instead we must identify the problems and build infrastructure to communicate and act on them and decide what transitions we might do to achieve global action on climate change,” she explained.