Dubai set to host World Government Summit
MOHAMMAD: END GOAL TO DEVELOP BETTER LIFE FOR PEOPLE
Heads of state, corporate leaders, celebrities and many other prominent personalities are gathering today in Dubai for the three-day annual World Government Summit 2019 to discuss the biggest challenges and opportunities facing communities globally.
On the eve of the summit, His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, said: “The World Government Summit is strongly focusing on human capital and our end goal is to foresee the future of all sectors to develop a better life for people. The summit’s main objective is to unify efforts and ideas and mobilize energies to improve people’s lives.”
“Through the summit, the UAE seeks to lead the world dialogues in technology, future, health and quality of life,” he said. His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, said: “All government policies and strategic plans must be harnessed to empower people, given they are the cornerstone of development.”
Taking place at Madinat Jumeirah, the seventh edition of the summit showcases the latest innovations and best policies worldwide, with the goal of helping the next generation of governments harness technology and prepare for the rapidly changing political and economic landscapes, ultimately improving the lives of citizens across the world. The event has gathered more than 4,000 participants from 140 countries.
Ahead of today’s official opening, it was revealed yesterday at the Fourth Annual Arab Fiscal Forum that the UAE is launching a fiscal risk management project with the IMF’s help. The UAE will produce its first fiscal stress test this year, according to Christine Lagarde, IMF managing director and chairwoman.
Earlier in her speech, Lagarde expressed her happiness at being in Dubai which she called the “city of tomorrow” where “its economic leaders are dedicated to realising the vision of a better tomorrow.”
We have an excellent opportunity for dialogue and reflection on how to develop government work to achieve prosperity for all peoples.” Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum
Philanthropy will get a special focus at the World Government Summit (WGS) this year with a dedicated forum to discuss ways to turn humanitarian work into a lifestyle.
Part of the three-day summit, the Forum for the Future of Humanitarian Work, being held for the first time, will foresee the future of philanthropy and develop the right mechanisms to address current humanitarian crises.
Delegates, government officials, decision makers, private sector officials and international organisations will attend the forum, which will become a main part of the summit’s agenda starting this year.
The three-day forum will shed light on successful philanthropic stories that have grown into large-scale social movements. It will also reveal the charitable and social causes that celebrities dedicated their lives to serving.
American author, life coach and motivational speaker Tony Robbins and American actor and producer Joseph Gordon-Levitt will participate in the event.
The forum will host Arab hope makers including Ma’ali Al Asousi, one of the five winners in the first edition of Arab Hope Makers Initiative, who moved from Kuwait to dedicate her life to helping children in Yemen; Iraqi Hesham Al Dahabi, founder of the Iraqi House for Creativity, that shelters homeless children and orphans and provides them with a decent living; Sudanese Faris Ali who worked with thousands of volunteers in distributing 40 million meals and sandwiches over eight years to homeless children and pupils in schools; and Mahmoud Waheed, last year’s Arab Hope Maker, who established a foundation to shelter and rehabilitate elderly homeless people on the streets of Egypt and unite them with their families.
Saeed Al Eter, Assistant Secretary General of Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives and Chairman of the Dubai Council for the Future Humanitarian Work, stressed foreseeing the future of philanthropy and adopting aid to the needs of societies.