Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, has congratulated the first winner of the Arab Reading Challenge on her graduation from New York University Abu Dhabi.
Fatima Al Nuaimi was the first pupil to receive a certificate from Sheikh Mohammed for the reading challenge in 2016 and graduated in a remote ceremony on Wednesday with excellent grades.
“I had laid a kiss on my daughter's head in 2016 as she ranked first at the state level in the reading challenge," Sheikh Mohammed said on Twitter on Thursday.
"Yesterday, my daughter Fatima Al Nuaimi graduated from Abu Dhabi New York University with distinction. Congratulations.
"The country flourishes with you, thrives in reading and rises with knowledge."
Ms Al Nuaimi completed the Arab Reading Challenge in its inaugural year alongside more than 160,000 pupils from 828 schools, who together read a total of five million books in the school year.
The Arab Reading Challenge was launched by Sheikh Mohammed in 2015 to encourage a million young people to read 50 books in a year.
The initiative has proved a huge success story, with last year's installment attracting more than 13 million entrants from 49 nations.
On Wednesday, nearly 300 students from more than 75 countries graduated from NYUAD at a virtual commencement ceremony.
Ms Al Nuaimi, from the Class of 2020, earned a distinction.
More than 7,100 viewers from around the world tuned in to share the celebration.
Three graduating seniors from NYUAD also crafted an open letter of thanks to Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, as their undergraduate experience came to an end.
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Tomorrow 2021
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Job: CEO JCDecaux Middle East
In the role: Since January 2015
Lives: In the UAE
Background: M&A, investment banking
Studied: Corporate finance
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
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Gender pay parity on track in the UAE
The UAE has a good record on gender pay parity, according to Mercer's Total Remuneration Study.
"In some of the lower levels of jobs women tend to be paid more than men, primarily because men are employed in blue collar jobs and women tend to be employed in white collar jobs which pay better," said Ted Raffoul, career products leader, Mena at Mercer. "I am yet to see a company in the UAE – particularly when you are looking at a blue chip multinationals or some of the bigger local companies – that actively discriminates when it comes to gender on pay."
Mr Raffoul said most gender issues are actually due to the cultural class, as the population is dominated by Asian and Arab cultures where men are generally expected to work and earn whereas women are meant to start a family.
"For that reason, we see a different gender gap. There are less women in senior roles because women tend to focus less on this but that’s not due to any companies having a policy penalising women for any reasons – it’s a cultural thing," he said.
As a result, Mr Raffoul said many companies in the UAE are coming up with benefit package programmes to help working mothers and the career development of women in general.
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The biog
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He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
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