Prepared by Marwan Alquran
Photographer : Sultan Almarzooqi

The Community Development Authority (CDA) has signed a memorandum of understanding with Union Coop, the largest consumer cooperative in the UAE, according to which the coop will extend support and sponsorship to Mansoor Bin Mohammed Short Film Award. The award aims at enhancing the human rights culture in the Emirati society, as well as developing creativity among the youth in artistic fields. The award also works on instilling the values of tolerance and cultural diversity, and rejecting discrimination, hatred, and intolerance among the youth.

The MoU was signed by Maitha Al Shamsi, CEO of the Human Rights Sector at the CDA, and Suhail Al Bastaki, Director of the Happiness and Marketing Department at Union Coop, in the presence of managers and employees from both sides.

For her part, Maitha Al Shamsi said “The UAE and its wise leadership are committed to the values of justice, equality, and human rights, as well as protecting the freedom of expression, confronting discrimination and hatred, and working constantly to raise awareness among all demographics – particularly youths – around international laws and accords that the state joined in the field of serving and protecting the rights and dignity of the human being, as it doesn’t discriminate based on gender, color, nationality, or religion.”

“We are pleased to cooperate with Union Coop in sponsoring and supporting this award, which highlights the important role played by the private sector in achieving comprehensive social awareness and strengthening social solidarity,” she added.
Commenting on this, Suhail Al Bastaki said “Signing this MoU highlights our commitment to raising social awareness around human rights, and our efforts to encourage the youth to express human rights values by means of creative skills.” Al Bastaki added that the young generation is the pillar of modern countries, and honing creative skills and employing them properly contributes to thinking outside the box and generating unique and distinct creative ideas without marginalizing what is inside the box.