Long before the UAE sent its first astronaut to space or appointed the world's youngest minister, a group of trailblazing Emirati women reached for the stars. They were the first generation to receive higher education, sent abroad by the country's Founding Father, Sheikh Zayed, to learn crucial skills and return to the UAE to propel the country into a bright new future. To mark the UAE's 50th anniversary, The National has interviewed some of these pioneers.
Although Dr Rafia Ghubash spent decades away from the UAE, she says her years of study have only ever been in service of the country.
At her family home in Dubai, which she has turned into a museum for Emirati women, the UAE's first female psychiatrist talks about simpler times when people felt uncomfortable discussing mental health.
She says the country's younger generation should not forget their roots while working hard to further themselves.
"If you can balance where you came from and who you are with new and different civilisations and cultures, then that is an achievement," she says.
“A future generation that appreciates and honours their culture, traditions and religion would be a successful one.”
Today, the awareness on the importance of psychiatry is increasing but the community is still ashamed of going to see a psychiatrist. They would come to the clinic but be too ashamed to tell their family
Dr Rafia Ghubash
Dr Ghubash, who was born in 1957, grew up in Deira. She helps to organise cultural initiatives in the old district "as if I am trying to continue my life by beginning where I started".
After completing high school, her studies took her all over the world, beginning in 1976 with a six-year stint in Egypt, where she studied general medicine at Cairo University.
She later changed studied psychiatry in London.
"Today, the awareness on the importance of psychiatry is increasing, but the community is still ashamed of going to see a psychiatrist. They would come to the clinic but be too ashamed to tell their family," she says.
"This too is gradually changing."
She returned to the UAE for two years before travelling to the UK to earn a PhD in epidemiological psychiatry from the University of London in 1992.
“I am the first to graduate as a psychiatrist and the first to study child psychiatry before specialising in women’s health,” she says proudly.
On her return to the UAE, she became assistant dean of the college of medicine at UAE University in Al Ain. Over her eight years at the university, she worked her way up the academic ladder to become dean.
“Then the UAE nominated me, with support from Sheikh Zayed and the leaders, to be head of the Gulf University in Bahrain," she says.
She served as president of the university from 2001 to 2009. Overall, Dr Ghubash spent six years in Egypt, six in the UK and eight in Bahrain.
She decided to return to the UAE to develop an idea that had been in the back of her mind for years. In 2012, she opened the UAE's first museum dedicated to the accomplishments of women from the region.
The museum is called Bait Al Banat, which translates to House of Women.
She has also published a book featuring more than a 1,000 women and their achievements.
She says visitors come from all over the world and are surprised when they learn about the achievements of Emirati women.
“This is what the museum did – it changed the stereotypical image that some uneducated westerners have on Emirati women. Let them find me a woman during my mother’s time who has achieved what my mother achieved," she says.
Her mother, a writer and poet, was one of the biggest inspirations in her life. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai and Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak, Minister for Tolerance, also helped her in her career and believe in her dreams. Sheikh Zayed also had a major influence on her.
“I am one of the lucky ones who met Sheikh Zayed in 1973. After the union, one of the first school visits by Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid was to my school, Amna Bint Wahab," she says.
“Sheikh Zayed remains with us in our hearts until today and it is so rare to find a leader like that and a leader who everyone unanimously loves.
"Throughout history you would always find someone who disagrees or dislikes a leader, but not Sheikh Zayed."
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About Takalam
Date started: early 2020
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Based: Abu Dhabi
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Number of staff: 4
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Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
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Isle of Dogs
Director: Wes Anderson
Starring: Bryan Cranston, Liev Schreiber, Ed Norton, Greta Gerwig, Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, Scarlett Johansson
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Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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How to come clean about financial infidelity
- Be honest and transparent: It is always better to own up than be found out. Tell your partner everything they want to know. Show remorse. Inform them of the extent of the situation so they know what they are dealing with.
- Work on yourself: Be honest with yourself and your partner and figure out why you did it. Don’t be ashamed to ask for professional help.
- Give it time: Like any breach of trust, it requires time to rebuild. So be consistent, communicate often and be patient with your partner and yourself.
- Discuss your financial situation regularly: Ensure your spouse is involved in financial matters and decisions. Your ability to consistently follow through with what you say you are going to do when it comes to money can make all the difference in your partner’s willingness to trust you again.
- Work on a plan to resolve the problem together: If there is a lot of debt, for example, create a budget and financial plan together and ensure your partner is fully informed, involved and supported.
Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
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How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
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If you go...
Etihad Airways flies from Abu Dhabi to Kuala Lumpur, from about Dh3,600. Air Asia currently flies from Kuala Lumpur to Terengganu, with Berjaya Hotels & Resorts planning to launch direct chartered flights to Redang Island in the near future. Rooms at The Taaras Beach and Spa Resort start from 680RM (Dh597).
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
