Awards to honour Abu Dhabi’s most community-minded folk

ABU DHABI // People who have made a real difference to their community will be honoured at the seventh Abu Dhabi Awards on January 30.

The prizes recognise those who have contributed in building a greater sense of social welfare in the emirate, regardless of their age, nationality or gender.

The recipients will be chosen by a judging process that looks at the merits and achievements of the nominees, not just on the number of votes cast for a particular individual.

“The nominations we received for the Abu Dhabi Awards this year were from all parts of society and there were some truly incredible stories about people contributing to the emirate,” a spokesman for the organising committee said.

“In this 2013 Abu Dhabi Awards campaign, almost 30,000 nominations were made. A record was set in the form of 117 different nationalities taking part and there were also record numbers of young people and women participating in the nomination process,” he said.

“Awareness and understanding of the awards increases, year-on-year, illustrated by the number and quality of nominations received.”

The ceremony will be presided over by Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces.

South African Cameron Oliver won an Abu Dhabi Award in 2008 when he was just 12 years old for his work to protect camels being injured by litter left in the desert.

“When I won it was like an Oscar for me,” he said.

“It has helped me a lot with recognition. People have seen what I have accomplished and what my campaign is about and people try to help me out. Ever since I won people started asking me about it and it gives you a motivation to keep going with your drive.

“What I am happy with is the standard hasn’t changed. It is always very high. Back then it was absolutely amazing seeing the sorts of people winning and when I see the winners now it is still the same, or improving.”

Cameron, now a keen swimmer with ambitions to enter the 2016 Olympics, still keeps up his work to make the environment safer for camels in the UAE.

“We are planning on doing a campaign in the desert in the next few months before it gets too hot and we’ve had a few offers from schools to help out,” he said.

Other past recipients include Dr Maha Barakat, the director general of the Health Authority Abu Dhabi, for her work to improve health care for everyone across the emirate.

As one of the youngest recipients, 10-year-old Abdul Muqeet from India was honoured in 2011 for his campaign to reduce the number of plastic bags used in Abu Dhabi.

Abdul’s initiative saw recycled paper bags distributed throughout the community in a move to improve the local environment.

The late Alain Saint-Hilaire was also given a reward for documenting the history of Abu Dhabi, through photography, since 1969.

The event will be broadcast live on the Abu Dhabi Al Emarat television channel from 7pm on January 30.

Re-runs of the latest awards ceremony will be broadcast on Abu Dhabi Al Oula and Abu Dhabi Al Emarat on Friday January 31 and again by Al Oula the following day.

ksinclair@thenational.ae