Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, with Mohamed Al Mazrouei, Undersecretary of the Crown Prince Court of Abu Dhabi (right), and Archbishop Francisco Montecillo Padilla, personal envoy of Pope Francis, after the signing of a collaborative declaration on global health, at the Sea Palace. Rashed Al Mansoori / Ministry of Presidential Affairs
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed looks on as Mohamed Al Mazrouei, Undersecretary of the Crown Prince Court of Abu Dhabi, and Archbishop Francisco Montecillo Padilla, personal envoy of Pope Francis, sign the declaration. Rashed Al Mansoori / Ministry of Presidential Affairs
Mohamed Al Mazrouei and Archbishop Francisco Montecillo Padilla shake hands after signing the declaration on global health, at the Sea Palace. Rashed Al Mansoori / Ministry of Presidential Affairs
Mohamed Al Mazrouei, Undersecretary of the Crown Prince Court of Abu Dhabi and Archbishop Francisco Montecillo Padilla, personal envoy of Pope Francis, shake hands after signing a collaborative declaration on global health, at the Sea Palace. Rashed Al Mansoori / Ministry of Presidential Affairs
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed speaks after witnessing a signing of the collaborative declaration on global health, at the Sea Palace. Rashed Al Mansoori / Ministry of Presidential Affairs
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed speaks after witnessing a signing of a collaborative declaration on global health, at the Sea Palace. Also seen are Mohamed Al Mazrouei, Undersecretary of the Crown Prince Court of Abu Dhabi, and Archbishop Francisco Montecillo Padilla, personal envoy of Pope Francis. Mohamed Al Hammadi / Ministry of Presidential Affairs
Guests attend the signing of a collaborative declaration on global health, at the Sea Palace. Mohamed Al Hammadi / Ministry of Presidential Affairs
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and Pope Francis signed an agreement to combat global diseases while improving the health of communities in need.
The Joint Declaration on Global Health aims to identify joint initiatives that will galvanise the global community and boost health programmes for the world’s most vulnerable communities, the state news agency Wam reported.
It was signed at the Sea Palace on Monday, ahead of the Reaching the Last Mile Forum, a gathering of global health leaders in Abu Dhabi.
"Disease is one of the most formidable barriers to prosperity," Sheikh Mohamed said after the signing.
"Access to health care and the prevention and treatment of disease is a pathway to lifting people out of poverty and can have significant effects on global development.
“We look forward to working with Pope Francis to enable impoverished communities the opportunity to live a healthy, dignified life."
The declaration mentioned neglected tropical diseases, which affect more than 1.5 billion people around the world.
It highlighted the role of the Reaching the Last Mile Fund, which was set up by Sheikh Mohamed in 2017 to combat two of those diseases, river blindness and lymphatic filariasis.
Despite these programmes and improved access to treatments, neglected tropical diseases are still a secondary priority on the global agenda.
These diseases can now be monitored, prevented and eliminated, and the declaration urged the global community to collaborate to reach the most vulnerable populations.
The signing came nine months after the Pope Francis’s historic visit to Abu Dhabi, the first by a leader of the Roman Catholic Church to the Arabian Peninsula.
This week the global Interfaith Summit was held at the Vatican, under the patronage of Sheikh Mohamed and in the presence of Pope Francis and Sheikh Saif bin Zayed, UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior.
At the signing, Pope Francis was represented by Archbishop Francisco Montecillo Padilla, Apostolic Nuncio to the UAE, and Sheikh Mohamed was represented by Mohamed Al Mazrouei, Undersecretary of the Crown Prince Court of Abu Dhabi.
Nepotism is the name of the game
Salman Khan’s father, Salim Khan, is one of Bollywood’s most legendary screenwriters. Through his partnership with co-writer Javed Akhtar, Salim is credited with having paved the path for the Indian film industry’s blockbuster format in the 1970s. Something his son now rules the roost of. More importantly, the Salim-Javed duo also created the persona of the “angry young man” for Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan in the 1970s, reflecting the angst of the average Indian. In choosing to be the ordinary man’s “hero” as opposed to a thespian in new Bollywood, Salman Khan remains tightly linked to his father’s oeuvre. Thanks dad.
Something of a fashion anomaly, normcore is essentially a celebration of the unremarkable. The term was first popularised by an article in New York magazine in 2014 and has been dubbed “ugly”, “bland’ and "anti-style" by fashion writers. It’s hallmarks are comfort, a lack of pretentiousness and neutrality – it is a trend for those who would rather not stand out from the crowd. For the most part, the style is unisex, favouring loose silhouettes, thrift-shop threads, baseball caps and boyish trainers. It is important to note that normcore is not synonymous with cheapness or low quality; there are high-fashion brands, including Parisian label Vetements, that specialise in this style. Embraced by fashion-forward street-style stars around the globe, it’s uptake in the UAE has been relatively slow.
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Saturday, October 26: ‘The Time That Remains’ (2009) by Elia Suleiman Saturday, November 2: ‘Beginners’ (2010) by Mike Mills Saturday, November 16: ‘Finding Vivian Maier’ (2013) by John Maloof and Charlie Siskel Tuesday, November 26: ‘All the President’s Men’ (1976) by Alan J Pakula Saturday, December 7: ‘Timbuktu’ (2014) by Abderrahmane Sissako Saturday, December 21: ‘Rams’ (2015) by Grimur Hakonarson
