Education and women take centre stage at Harvard conference on Gulf

Leading voices from the region converged on Harvard University at the weekend for the first Gulf Creatives Conference.

The event in Massachusetts highlighted the need for regional co-operation in creative industries and was organised by The Diwan, a student-run organisation at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

“We want to celebrate the greatest minds from the Gulf, showcase our creatives and our talents,” said Abdulla Almarzooqi, one of the conference organisers and chairman of the UAE Committee at The Diwan.

More than 1,000 people packed the university’s science centre to hear from about 100 speakers, including Maryam bin Theneya, second deputy speaker of the UAE Federal National Council, Sheikh Abdullah bin Rashid Al Khalifa, Bahrain’s ambassador to the US, and Jasem Al Budaiwi, Secretary General of the GCC.

The conference covered issues including public policy, innovation strategies and the future of health care.

“It has been a lot of work. We started working on this conference in December of last year so it’s been six months,” Mr Almarzooqi told The National.

“Once we started sending out invitations and telling people about it and promoting it, there was lot of enthusiasm and excitement everyone wanted to be a part of it.”

Topics covered included bolstering education in the six Gulf countries, women in leadership, globalisation, innovation and cyber security.

“Having a unified theme for the GCC to tackle challenges in the creative industries space [is crucial], so we have education, innovation, technology, arts and culture,” said Hilal Al Riyami, head of national Initiatives at the Royal Academy of Management in Oman.

That sense of connectivity among Gulf countries was felt throughout the conference.

On a panel focused on exploring globalisation and innovation in the GCC, Sheikh Abdullah highlighted how Gulf countries were sending out students to learn abroad only to see them return because of the opportunities presented in their home countries.

“The region is, again, moving through a transformational stage.” he said.

A major focus of the event was women’s leadership and economic participation in the GCC.

Fatima Al Kaabi, a young inventor from the UAE, told The National that it offered a valuable stage for the unrecognised achievements of Gulf women.

At a session on breaking gender barriers in the private sector, Wafa Al Obeidat, chief executive and founder of the Playbook app, pointed out the failure of educational institutions to bridge the gap between academic success and professional advancement for women.

Despite often outperforming men academically, women rarely get top corporate jobs or substantial venture capital funding.

In the Middle East and North Africa region women attract less than 2 per cent of investment, said Ms Al Obeidat.