The UAE ‘Hope-Makers’ initiative was launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai. It is the largest Arab initiative aimed at honoring the programs and projects of humanitarian and community helping people pro bono, consolidating the values of goodness, positivity and optimism, improving the quality of life in communities and making a difference in people’s lives.
The initiative aims at encouraging hope makers in the Arab region and spreading good values across the Arab world as His Highness said. It also seeks producing role models in a region where bad news like wars, conflicts, murder, slaughter and corruption are frequent, drawing a grim picture of the Arab region to the world.
To achieve positive change in society, we need a clear strategy and a will of steel to bring about this change. The role model is the foundation stone on this path. His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum said “We are a nation that did not and will not give up. There is a wave of frustration and pessimism in the Arab world that must be fought. No nation can resume its civilization if young people are desperate. Everyone is responsible for the making of hope in our region.” His statement betokens awareness of the risk of frustration, and the spread of pessimism and despair, especially among young people. All societal troubles in the Arab countries are linked to the spread of despair and frustration. The issue is not confined to terrorism but also the spread of drugs, corruption, theft, harassment, violation of the rights of others and the attack on the freedoms. Closing the doors of hope entails opening the doors of despair, as his Highness said.
Throughout history, revitalized civilisations were always based on sets of values and ethics. Hope making is one of the most important mechanism to combat extremism and militancy. Positive change counterpoises the culture of death and destruction by those narrow-minded pseudo-religion practitioners.
The decline of Arab civilization was not cultural, religious or materialistic, because nations and civilizations go through periods of change. Civilizations have originated, flourished then fell. Thus, the resumption of this civilization depends on specific conditions and factors such as the ability to enforce civilization mechanisms, and spread the spirit of enthusiasm and revitalization of history into people.
Emirates can assume a leading role in the resumption of civilization, having the components of the inspiring model. It is today competing with sophisticated and advanced nations and countries in terms of indicator of development, progress, happiness and prosperity. Education is essential to the resumption of civilization in the Arab world. Education should be a national project having the necessary facilities and resources, and of concern to leaders and governments, otherwise the resumption of civilization or progress and development will not by possible.
Mobilization is extremely difficult now. The Arab situation is not so well; even an accurate diagnosis of developmental challenges is not easy. Most Arab countries do not have accurate statistics in most sectors of development or precise data about such dilemmas as poverty, unemployment and corruption. A lot of circulating figures are for political propaganda, while some were not produced by specialized and competent agencies. N/A or data unavailable are expressions we frequently encounter. If accurate information about reality is not available, it is difficult to talk about careful planning, whether in education, health, infrastructure, or other fields.
Hope making requires a real hard work, not wishful thinking. What His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum is doing is creating the right climate of inspiration in order to draw a road map for the future. Everyone is invited to be involved in these positive initiatives in the Arab world. The future is everyone’s responsibility.
