Suqia Board of Trustees holds fifth meeting

Dubai, UAE, 5 January 2016: The UAE Water Aid Foundation’s (Suqia’s) board of trustees has conducted its fifth meeting at Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA)’s headquarters. Suqia is one of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives. The meeting was chaired by HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, Chairman of the board of trustees of Suqia and MD & CEO of DEWA, and attended by HE Humaid Rashid Al Shamsi, Deputy ERC Secretary-General for International Aid and Vice Chairman of the Board at Suqia, HE Dr. Mohammed Abdullah Al Baili, Deputy Vice Chairman for Academic Affairs and Provost of United Arab Emirates University, HE Sultan Mohammed Al Shamsi, Assistant Under-Secretary of the Ministry for International Cooperation and Development, HE Dr. Arif Al Hammadi, Executive Vice President of Khalifa University, Nasser Lootah, Executive Vice President of Generation at DEWA, Waleed Salman, Executive Vice President of Strategy & Business Development at DEWA, and Mohammed Abdulkareem Al Shamsi, Acting Executive Director of Suqia.

The group discussed the foundation’s work and listened to a presentation on the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives to fight poverty and illness, spread knowledge and culture, empower the community, and drive leadership. HH Shekih Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, launched the Global Initiatives to coordinate with humanitarian and social initiatives he has launched before, to streamline their goals and vision.

Al Tayer commended the launch of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives, and noted that it reflects the importance of finding sustainable and innovative solutions to cope with Water around the world.

Mohammed Abdulkareem Al Shamsi, Acting Executive Director of Suqia, talked about the benefits of unifying efforts and gaining media support to add value to the foundation as a whole. Al Tayer affirmed the importance of cooperating with other organisations to consolidate their efforts and launch future projects.

The board also discussed the closed meeting held by the executive committee of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives on 16 December 2015, where each party presented their goals and ambitions towards the fulfilment of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives.  

Suqia discussed its research and development, and its interest in investing in water technologies.

The board also discussed the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Water Awards, launched by His Highness last year. The categories of the award include Innovative Projects for Companies, Innovative Studies and Research, and Young Innovators. The award identifies sustainable and innovative solar energy solutions to water problems in the world. The award was promoted at many international forums such as COP21 in December 2015, and various activities held in cooperation with the 70th UN General Assembly session in New York, the Solar Decathlon in California, America and the Carbon Ambassador Programme in Dubai.