ABU DHABI // The emirate will accept nominations for the Abu Dhabi Awards, which recognise selfless contributors to the emirate’s development, from Sunday onwards.
The award, which is the highest civilian honour, was created in 2005 by Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces.
It is open to residents and non-residents.
“We want to recognise individuals who have contributed in any way and given back to Abu Dhabi selflessly,” said Abdul Al Rashedi, a member of the award’s organising committee.
“Our mission is to recognise their contribution, support them and motivate them to do more of what they are doing.”
More than 40 nomination boxes and booths will be set up across the emirate.
The nomination period is from Sunday to June 3, followed by the screening and review phase from July to November. The awards ceremony will be held early next year.
The nomination process for the biennial awards has been simplified to encourage more people to vote, organisers say.
“People can call 800 3331 toll free and cast their nomination. They can also do so through our Facebook page, apart from the voting booths and website,” said Mr Al Rashedi.
The organising committee will review every nomination. “Some people think it is based on number of nominations but it is not,” said Mr Al Rashedi. “A person could have a single vote and win an award if his contribution is of value to the emirate.”
The honour has been awarded to 71 people. More than 100,000 people have been nominated since the inception of the awards.
Dr Taisser Atrak, an award winner, said the honour helped the recipients to champion their causes and enabled them to reach a wider audience.
Dr Atrak, chairman of paediatrics at Mafraq Hospital, was awarded for his efforts in promoting child safety.
“The award opened many new doors and opportunities for me to be able to take my campaign further,” he said.
“I was able to help many different agencies. I worked with the Ministry of Interior about ideas of car seats for children and worked with the Emirates Foundation as a mentor to train Emirati youth on volunteer work, programmes and child safety.”
Dr Atrak said the award had helped him to raise awareness about child safety to more than 1 million people through various channels in the UAE and across the Middle East.
“This is very important for people trying to make a difference. The more you pass the message, the more success a cause will have,” he said.
“One person cannot change the world, but many can with positive and good ideas.”
mmannan@thenational.ae
*This story has been amended to reflect the correct nomination period.