
Ministry of Sports applauds UAE Chess Federation's pioneering initiative to include resident members in Board of Directors
This marks a qualitative shift in the way in which sports federation boards are formed, reinforcing the principle of involving all segments of society in the decision-making process, aligning with the vision of the UAE's wise leadership. It also lays the foundation for a new model that responds to the precise needs of the current development phase in the national sports sector.
The Ministry of Sports affirmed that the UAE Chess Federation's experience constitutes a historic milestone in the nation's sports governance development journey. The new system will be adopted as a pilot model within a well-studied, integrated approach aimed at assessing the institutional and technical impact of this initiative on the federation's performance and its ability to achieve its goals. This includes evaluating decision-making efficiency, diversity of expertise, speed of initiative implementation, as well as internal governance effectiveness.
Based on the outcomes of this experience, a comprehensive analysis will be conducted to help shape future policies for the development of board formation mechanisms across other federations. The approach may be gradually generalised depending on the extent to which the intended objectives are achieved, in alignment with the principles of professionalism, sustainability, and inclusivity within the sports sector.
The Ministry considers the inclusion of resident members in the boards of sports federations as a practical embodiment of the values of openness, tolerance, and diversity. This inclusion enhances the contribution of the residents to sports development by harnessing their expertise and talents, further reinforcing the role of sports as a national tool for development, social integration, and empowerment.
This experience also highlights the need to integrate elite talents into sports leadership, particularly in specialised areas such as sports marketing, strategic planning, technical analysis, and the adoption of modern technologies. The Ministry believes that involving members with advanced expertise serves as an institutional enabler for achieving performance excellence. This step aligns with the Ministry's vision to develop the administrative structure of sports federations and instate qualified professionals capable of transforming these entities into pioneering institutions characterised by responsible decision-making, agility, and innovation.
This initiative highlights the Ministry's efforts to instil a robust governance culture as the guiding framework for all institutional processes within the sports sector. Moreover, the adoption of the electoral list system is considered a significant organisational advancement, reinforcing the commitment of sports bodies to the principles of integrity, transparency, specialisation, and administrative integration.
The Ministry views governance not merely as a regulatory tool, but as a comprehensive approach that supports the development of stronger partnerships with all sports institutions. It helps foster a collaborative working environment and contributes to empowering these entities by enhancing their ability to identify talent, increase the number of active sports participants, and improve overall sports performance efficiency.
The Ministry emphasises that its support for sports federations goes beyond financial or logistical assistance, extending to the development of effective administrative models, ensuring comprehensive governance, and empowering the board of directors by offering them institutional innovation tools.

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Gulf Today
8 hours ago
- Gulf Today
September could be a decisive moment for Palestine
Next month could be a major turning point for Palestine as France, Britain, Canada and six other countries are set to extend recognition of a virtual Palestinian state. While enjoying three of the four attributes that define statehood — a permanent population, a government and relations with other states — Palestine does not exercise control over sovereign territory. Recognition is to take place at the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly which opens on September 9th with addresses from world leaders. The Trump administration has criticised these countries and tried to punish the Palestinians by imposing sanctions on so-far unnamed Palestinian Authority and Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) officials who could be denied visas to attend the General Assembly. Washington has justified its stand by claiming 'the 'the two Palestinian organisations have 'taken actions to internationalise' their conflict 'with Israel, including through the International Criminal Court, and said both had continued 'to support terrorism.'' On the latter charge, neither the Authority nor the PLO supported Hamas' October 7th, 2023, raid into southern Israel during which 1,139 Israelis and visitors were killed and 250 abducted. The US previously excluded Palestinian leaders from the opening of the annual Assembly session. Although he had addressed the General Assembly in 1974, the US refused PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat a visa for the 1988 opening. A special session was held in Geneva in mid-December to enable Arafat to speak. After this debacle, his successor, Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas, has addressed the opening session of the Assembly for nearly two decades. Palestine has been recognised by 147 of the UN's 193 members, 75 per cent, but the US has vetoed its full membership. Consequently, Palestine has observer status which permits it to attend and participate in General Assembly and Security Council sessions but not to vote. Palestine also has gained membership in UN-related institutions despite US objections. Palestine has sought recognition as a state since November 15th, 1988, when the Palestine National Council, the parliament-in-exile, issued the declaration of independence in Algiers. Written by Palestinian national poet Mahmoud Darwish, the declaration called for a mini state in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza occupied by Israelis in 1967 instead of the whole of Palestine. This amounted to a strategic shift in policy by the PLO which had demanded a Palestinian state in the whole of Palestine. The shift was in line with UN Security Council resolution 242 of November 1967 which called for Israel to withdraw from territories seized that June. Following its independence declaration, Palestine was instantly recognised by Algeria, Malaysia, Morocco, Turkey, Yemen, and Somalia. On December 15th, 1988, the General Assembly acknowledged the declaration of independence and recognised Palestine rather than the PLO as representing Palestinians within the UN system. Palestine subsequently gained recognition from states in Asia, Africa, the non-aligned group, and Eastern Europe and by the end of 1989, 94 states had recognised Palestine. EU members Ireland and Spain and Norway recognised Palestine last year. In addition to France, Britain, and Canada, Andora, Finland, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Portugal, San Marino, and Malta are set to recognise Palestine this year. Australia has refused to fix a time while Germany and Italy do not intend to offer recognition. The addition of France and Britain will mean that four of the five permanent UN Security Council members (including Russia and China) will have recognised Palestine. The US is the sole hold-out. The Trump administration has criticised the process of recognition and has threatened to impose high tariffs on Canada for taking this action. Donald Trump has fully backed Israel in its war on Gaza and blockade of the strip which has starved 2.3 million Gazans and has been branded genocide by prominent Israeli human rights groups B'Tselem and Israeli Doctors for Human Rights as well as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Israeli experts on genocide. B'Tselem dubbed the terrible and tragic situation in Gaza 'Our Genocide' and stated: 'For nearly two years, Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza, acting in a systematic, deliberate way to destroy Palestinian society there through mass killing, causing serious bodily and mental harm and creating catastrophic conditions that prevent its continued existence in Gaza. Israel is openly promoting ethnic cleansing and the destruction of life-sustaining infrastructure for individuals and the group, with 2 million people starved, displaced, bombed, and left by the world to die. The genocide must be stopped.' Israeli Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) presented a position paper entitled 'Destruction of Conditions Of Life: A Health Analysis of the Gaza Genocide.' PHR stated, ' Over the past 22 months, Israel has systematically targeted medical infrastructure across the Gaza Strip, attacking 33 of 36 of Gaza's hospitals and clinics depriving them of fuel and water. More than 1800 of Gaza's medical staff have been killed or detained.' PHR argued that this assault is 'a deliberate, cumulative dismantling of Gaza's health system, and with it, its people's ability to survive. This amounts to genocide.' Haaretz reported in a podcast that the 'mass starvation and death in Gaza seems to have finally cut through the layers of denial and media self-censorship in Israel – and in both Arab and mixed cities – demonstrations against the horrifying humanitarian situation are drawing thousands of protesters.' Haaretz said three out of four Israelis want to end the war which Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu prosecutes to maintain his fragile coalition. It is now a minority government since two ultra-Orthodox religious parties have exited because he did not pass a law granting military exemption to their youths. Israel's war on Gaza propelled France and Saudi Arabia to hold a conference in New York last week to urge countries round the world to recognise the Palestinian state and press for the two-state solution. The conference, attended by 125 countries, issued a call for a ceasefire in Gaza, Hamas' handover to a new administration, and a roadmap for the step-by-step establishment of a Palestinian state.

Zawya
a day ago
- Zawya
Minister of Planning, Economic Development, and International Cooperation Receives Report on the Implementation Status of Projects of Information Infrastructure Center for Egyptian Planning System
Development of 380 technology centers in local municipalities, villages, cities, and new urban communities has been completed. 156 government services are available through the fixed "Khadamat Masr" centers in Sharm El Sheikh, Mokattam, Aswan, and Alexandria; citizens have completed over 300,000 transactions as of the end of June 2025. The development and delivery of 276 centers within the Mobile Technology Centers project for providing government services to citizens has been completed. H.E. Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat, Minister of Planning, Economic Development, and International Cooperation, received a report on the implementation status of projects for the Ministry's Information Infrastructure Center for the Egyptian Planning System. The center is executing several projects, including the integration of spatial information infrastructure to develop the Egyptian planning system, projects for developing health services and initiatives (sustainability of births, deaths, and vaccinations), the project for developing financial and banking information systems at the National Investment Bank, and improving government performance in cooperation with the Administrative Prosecution Authority. Other projects include the development of technology centers in districts, cities, and new urban communities, improving the operational efficiency of real estate registry offices, as well as the mobile technology centers and fixed "Misr Services" centers. H.E. Dr. Rania Al-Mashat emphasized the pivotal role of the Information Infrastructure Center for the Egyptian Planning System, in light of the significant importance the state places on digital transformation and developing services provided to citizens. This is aimed at the comprehensive development of government policies and performance, to keep pace with the aspirations and challenges of the next phase, and to continue the path of structural and institutional reform. H.E. Dr. Al-Mashat noted that the Ministry is working to advance economic development efforts and close sectoral development gaps by relying on data-driven policies, which reflects the importance of digital transformation in the state's vision. _*Technology Centers in Local Municipalities*_ The report highlighted the project to develop technology centers in local municipalities and new city authorities. This project aims to provide citizens and investors with civilized, fast, accurate, and integrated services by coordinating with governorates to establish technology centers. These centers provide services to citizens and send them through a smart system to back-end departments, linking them with participating government bodies. This enhances performance efficiency, tightens control, and improves monitoring methods using information technology at the level of governorate general offices, centers, cities, districts, rural units (Haya Karima), and new city authorities. The development of service delivery locations in local municipalities (general offices, cities and centers, districts, and new city authorities) for 380 centers has been completed. This includes 316 centers in cities and districts, 30 centers in rural units, and 34 centers in the New Urban Communities Authority to improve the level of services provided to citizens. Moreover, development efforts have contributed to reducing the time for service delivery to citizens by 60% and decreasing crowding rates at fixed technology centers by supporting governorates with 37 mobile technology center vehicles, which had a positive impact on increasing citizen satisfaction. _*"Khadamat Masr" Center Project*_ The report highlighted the "Khadamat Masr" project, which aims to enhance financial and digital inclusion, reduce the time and effort required to obtain government services, and provide a package of government services from a single location. Fixed "Khadamat Masr" branches have been opened in Sharm El Sheikh, Alexandria, Aswan, and Mokattam in Cairo, with a number of other branches in other governorates nearing completion for opening. According to the report, new services have been added, bringing the total number of government services provided in "Khadamat Masr" centers to around 156 by the end of the fourth quarter of the 2024-2025 fiscal year. It is expected that these services will reach about 200 in the next fiscal year, ranging from real estate registration and notarization services, civil affairs, the Egyptian Public Prosecution, social solidarity services, the General Department for Passports, Immigration and Nationality, the General Department of Traffic, social insurance, and electronic payment, among other services. The report revealed that the number of transactions citizens have completed at "Khadamat Masr" centers reached over 300,000 by the end of the fourth quarter of 2024-2025, with an average service time of 30 minutes. The goal is to reduce this average service time to about 20 minutes. The report mentioned that the project for integrating the spatial information infrastructure to develop the Egyptian planning system is a comprehensive national project aimed at improving the efficiency of developmental investment decisions, increasing the efficiency of government spending, optimizing resource utilization, and directing state investments in an efficient and effective manner. This is achieved by using the latest technologies and advanced satellite and aerial imaging to produce unified base maps for the state and all spatial reports. _*Mobile Technology Service Centers*_ The report reviewed the progress of the Mobile Technology Centers project, which aims to provide government services to citizens in a civilized and dignified manner, reduce crowding at government service offices, and improve the business environment. This is achieved by providing digitized services that ensure citizen satisfaction. It was noted that 276 mobile technology centers were delivered by the end of last March, out of a total target of 326 centers, comprising 198 centers for government agencies and 78 mobile centers as part of the "Khadamat Masr" project, in cooperation between the Ministry of Planning, Economic Development, and International Cooperation and various government entities. _*Health Projects Information Infrastructure Project*_ Regarding the Health Projects Information Infrastructure Project (sustainability of birth and death systems and development of the vaccination systems' information infrastructure), it aims to enhance the efficiency and transparency of the health system and improve the quality of healthcare services. This is done by developing an integrated information infrastructure that supports the accurate and efficient registration of vital statistics. The project also contributes to enhancing the state's capacity for sustainable health planning, rationalizing spending, and improving vaccination registration mechanisms. The number of health offices linked electronically is 4,666, and the operational capacity of 2,000 health offices has been increased (providing devices and equipment). All vaccination offices have also been linked and are operating on the electronic system. The number of electronically linked vaccination offices has reached 5,434, and the number of vaccination offices supported with devices as part of the 2024/2025 plan has reached 2,000. _*Government Performance Improvement Project*_ The report also covered the project to improve government performance in cooperation with the Administrative Prosecution. This project aims to improve the performance of public facilities nationwide and enhance the quality of life for Egyptian citizens by evaluating and measuring government performance. It also supports decision-makers with accurate data that contributes to improving the performance of public employees and government entities. The project aims to link 273 administrative prosecution offices to the complaints system, and by the end of June 2025, 22,946 complaints had been registered through the system. _*Electronic Voting Project*_ The report outlined the electronic voting project, which aims to establish the first electronic voting system in the Arab Republic of Egypt, in cooperation with the Administrative Prosecution Authority, and to create an integrated digital platform for managing and operating the electoral system electronically. _*Supporting the Operational Capacity of Real Estate Registry Offices*_ The report referred to the project to support the operational capacity of the Real Estate and Notarization Authority's offices. This project contributes to the rapid entry of data for registration and publicity requests for properties in accordance with Law No. 9 of 2022, and the quick completion of property registration procedures for citizens. This leads to an increase in the state's public treasury revenues due to the rise in accepted registration requests and collected fees. The operational capacity of 28 offices, 293 sub-offices, and one main office of the Real Estate and Notarization Authority has been improved. _*Supporting the Operational Capacity of Public Prosecution Offices*_ Regarding the project to support the operational capacity of Public Prosecution offices, it aims to facilitate litigation procedures and ensure that stakeholders can obtain their rights without hardship, within a framework of constitutional and procedural legitimacy. This is achieved by automating 640 offices over four years from the start of the project and converting 50 million documents into digital documents that are easy to access and store. The number of offices targeted for the first year, 2024-2025, is 123 public prosecution offices (19% of the total number of offices), and the number of digitally converted documents has reached 2,375,000. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Ministry of Planning, Economic Development, and International Cooperation - Egypt.


The National
2 days ago
- The National
Will nations agree treaty to cut plastic production?
Talks to agree the first global treaty on combating plastic pollution are set to begin on Tuesday, and limiting plastic production is a key point of contention. Dozens of countries, campaign groups and researchers say that legally binding cuts to plastic production, which is running at about 460 million tonnes a year, are the only way to deal with the problem. However, many other nations, including producers of fossil fuels that are used to make most plastics, want the treaty to instead focus on improving the collection and recycling of plastic waste. The discussions in Geneva, scheduled to run until 14 August, are titled INC-5.2 because they are the second part of the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee, part of the UN Environment Assembly. More than 170 nations and hundreds of organisations are taking part in the talks, which ended in gridlock over the issue of production limits during the first part of the fifth session, in Busan, South Korea, in late 2024. Beyond waste management Prof Bethanie Almroth, co-coordinator of the Scientists' Coalition for an Effective Plastics Treaty, which is pressing for production limits, said studies had shown that improved waste management 'will not suffice' in dealing with plastic. 'The amount of plastic being produced is not manageable by the infrastructure that exists or will exist in the future,' said Prof Almroth, a plastic pollution researcher at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. According to figures published by the World Economic Forum, the amount of plastic produced each year could rise to 1.7 billion tonnes by 2060. Prof Almroth said a proposed 40 per cent cut in annual plastic production by 2040, put forward by Rwanda and Peru, would be insufficient to prevent continued plastic pollution. Environmental organisations have previously called for a 75 per cent reduction in production. Economic vs environmental costs Pollution is created across the life cycle of plastic, including during production, so improvements in recycling would not be enough to end environmental harms, according to Prof Almroth. Concerns have been raised over lobbying by fossil fuel and plastic producers at gatherings to finalise the treaty. Prof Almroth said there was disinformation and misrepresentation of scientific findings, making it harder for delegates to come to decisions. She acknowledged that a shift away from fossil fuels and their use to produce plastics would have an economic cost, but said 'the costs of inaction will be greater' and efforts to find alternatives would create new business models. While describing herself as 'realistically optimistic' about the outcome, Prof Almroth said the way that negotiations were proceeding by consensus could derail efforts to cut plastic production. 'There's a risk of watering down negotiations to the point where the treaty might lack effectiveness,' she said. 'Plastic pollution is urgent. Delaying further would allow the problem to grow.' Groups have formed during the negotiations, notably the 'high-ambition coalition', which includes more than 60 nations such as Norway, Rwanda, Peru and the UK that support a legally binding treaty with production limits. By contrast the 'like-minded group', which contains nations such as Saudi Arabia and China, is pressing for a treaty that focuses on dealing with plastic waste. Among the organisations pushing for a treaty that mandates production limits is Greenpeace Mena. Its lead plastics campaigner, Farah Al Hattab, said during a media briefing that plastic was 'strangling our soil, our water, our air'. While calling for 'ambitious objectives' on the reuse of plastics to be adopted, she suggested that a focus simply on ways to improve how plastic waste was dealt with risked the adoption of 'fake solutions'. 'This treaty should be legally binding,' she added. 'Other treaties that are not legally binding have problems with implementation.' In the Mena region, communities could look back to traditions to find ways of cutting out plastic, Ms Al Hattab said. 'We can stop using single-use plastic. Our ancestors used containers from glass and clay,' she said. 'If we promote clean-up initiatives, we can help reduce plastic pollution, but this takes time and money.' An estimated 20 million tones of plastic ends up as waste in the environment each year, according to reports. Studies have shown that this can be harmful to a wide range of wildlife including turtles and seabirds in the UAE. Pieces of plastic waste break down into microplastics, which have been found around the globe, including in polar regions far away from large human populations, and in human tissue. Microplastic impact on health A study published in Nature in July indicated that more than 16,000 chemicals have been used in plastics, at least 4,200 of which could be harmful to humans or the environment. The study reported that potentially harmful chemicals were present even in food packaging. One of the study's authors, Dr Zhanyun Wang, a scientist at Swiss research institute Empa, said when the study was released that to create 'a safe and sustainable circular economy for plastics' it was necessary to simplify their chemical composition. The British Plastics Federation, a UK trade association that represents organisations such as plastics producers and recyclers, said it favoured 'an ambitious treaty that covers the whole life cycle of plastics'. While stating that plastic 'has no place in the open environment', the organisation added that it should continue to be used 'where it provides the best environmental outcome and offers clear benefits'. 'Plastic has a strategically important role in vital infrastructure, such as the distribution of fresh food and water, in developing clean energy and in defence,' the federation said in a statement. While it said it would continue to 'provide every support required' to the British government team at the conference, the federation added that plastic helps to reduce carbon emissions by limiting the weight of transported items and by cutting food waste. 'The treaty needs to be impactful while not hampering the ability of the UK, and the world, to be innovative, achieve net zero and avoid the worst effects of climate change,' its statement added. The federation did not respond to an enquiry about whether it supported limits on plastic production.