Hala Al Khayyat (Abu Dhabi)
The Ataya Charity Exhibition, which concludes this evening (Friday), provided an opportunity to display handicrafts made by Emirati female craftswomen, affiliated with the Al Ghadeer Handicrafts Project.
Shawq Al-Junaibi, chief marketing officer of the “Al-Ghadeer” project, explained that Al-Ghadeer Emirati handicrafts is one of the most important pioneering projects of the Emirates Red Crescent Authority, under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Shamsa bint Hamdan Al Nahyan, assistant to His Highness the President of the Emirates Red Crescent Authority for Women’s Affairs, and aims to empower women. Innovators in the field of sustainable crafts, and the number of Emirati craftswomen in the institution exceeds about 200 craftswomen from all over the country.
Al-Junaibi indicated to Al-Ittihad that the project, since its inception in 2006 until the present, has been working on training and raising capabilities and skills in designing, manufacturing and marketing local products, and providing raw materials in support of training and qualifying female citizens with low incomes, and preserving heritage crafts. “Al-Ghadeer” at the “Ataya Charity” exhibition indicated that Al-Ghadeer’s participation in this year’s exhibition was distinguished in cooperation with the architectural designer Maitha Al-Muhairi, through the Sadu session inspired by the “Freej” seats, which are traditionally placed in simple arrangements to create spontaneous sessions, which combine between The traditional seat has the comfort and firmness of a lounging cushion, and the hand-woven sadwa wraps around the seats to create an integrated seating.
Al-Junaibi said: Our mission is to empower the women of our society by providing the support they need to make products with a local character to lead a decent life by providing them with training, design, tools and marketing services. At Al Ghadeer outlets, the revenues of which go to the Emirates Red Crescent Authority to finance the operating costs and the wages of craftswomen. 100 exhibitors from 13 countries are participating in “Ataya” from 13 countries, namely the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, Brazil, Qatar, India, and Germany , Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon and Indonesia. This year’s “Ataya” proceeds go to support refugees and displaced persons in Jordan and Iraq who suffer from economic and living difficulties that hinder their positive engagement in societies, empower refugees and displaced persons, include them in the labor market, integrate them with the local community, and contribute to building the future of their countries upon their return to it.
Training 360 refugees
The proceeds of the exhibition will be distributed to the training of 360 refugees outside the camps with professional skills by enhancing the digital skills of young people, to enable them to obtain jobs that work through approved electronic platforms, and in cooperation with humanitarian organizations in the refugee-hosting country. In addition, 2,000 families of refugees and displaced persons will be empowered in different ways, By financing them with small projects such as building greenhouses to grow vegetables or granting a number of livestock to raise them in rural areas, and providing assistance to refugee families outside the regular camps by providing them with caravans, fuel, food and health care.