We need more role models: Sharjah Ruler

Sheikh Dr Sultan emphasised that more needs to be done to overcome challenges.

His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, signalled the need for more efforts in training government employees and role models to emerge from within the leadership ranks.
Opening the eighth edition of the International Government Communication Forum (IGCF 2019) in Sharjah on Wednesday, Sheikh Sultan said that despite the nation's recent achievements in applying best-in-class technology to deliver policies and communicate with citizens, more efforts are required.
"Other countries have already deployed state-of-the-art communication systems. When these were brought to our country, we started facing problems in implementation because we didn't properly qualify our government cadres on how these can be used to streamline activities and achieve better results. This also caused ambiguity in the relation between government and community members. They were in a fix, taking a step forward and another backward. So, we introduced specialisations in our universities, and today our government communicators are bringing international best practices to their respective departments," said the Ruler of Sharjah to the delegates, including 70 leading communication experts who are speaking at the two-day forum.

"In the different government departments in Sharjah, there was some resistance to change initially, but we pushed forward to influence positive change and cadre training, introducing new leadership, processes and structures. Today, we are seeing positive results across departments. In January 2018, for instance, the Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority (Sewa) began implementing several new communication processes, which initially posed challenges, especially when it came to public acceptance. The community needed to be inducted into these new changes, which Sewa has done very successfully. We hope that, going forward, other departments will also do the same."
With the mention of this famous Chinese proverb, Sheikh Sultan bin Ahmed Al Qasimi, Chairman of the Sharjah Media Council (SMC), continued the theme of importance of educating citizenry through human-centric government communications to enable successful participatory governance, in his opening address.
"Human advancement can be successfully achieved only when strong partnerships are forged between governments and community members. The growing global interest in government communication inspires and encourages us, here in Sharjah, to move forward and make every possible effort to develop this vital field and advance our human capital.
"Not only is behavioural change an important aspect of government communication, but more importantly, government communication is at the heart of successful governance. We are on the threshold of fundamental changes in our lives, and navigating these shifts requires a change in behaviours and mindsets," he said, asserting that such a change requires "us to ask a number of questions".
"Do people realise that governments alone cannot prepare for the future without their active contribution? Do we have the ability to prompt our children to take up non-traditional education? Should we reduce the burden on public healthcare systems by adopting more healthy lifestyles?," were some of the questions Sheikh Sultan bin Ahmed raised.   
afkarali@khaleejtimes.com

• Sharjah