Friday 19 / April / 2024
Muscat: The seventh edition of the Al Mar’a Excellence Awards 2017 was held at a dazzling ceremony in Sheraton Oman. It honoured and felicitated Omani women from diverse fields.
Dr Suad Mohammed Allawati, vice chairperson, State Council was the chief guest for the evening and Jannab Sayyida Rawan Ahmed Al Said also attended the evening as the guest of honour.
Corporate high-fliers, enterprising entrepreneurs, talented artistes, humanitarians – the awards event shone the spotlight on many women super achievers for whom the sky is the limit. Lieutenant Colonel Sheikha Ashoor Al Hambasi won the coveted Woman of the Year Award while Hanaa Fahad Mubarak Al Hinai was adjudged Most Promising Woman of the Year. The event also honoured women of substance with Special Awards for numerous achievements in their field of work.
Apart from these, the Al Mar’a Excellence Awards celebrated every shade of a woman – as exemplified by the tagline of Oman’s women magazine, Al Mar’a. The awards felicitate women from diverse categories like - Corporate Leadership, Fashion Design, Performing Arts, Fine Arts, Educational Services, Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Health Services, Science and Industry, Technology, Sports, Petroleum Services, SME Sector, Marketing & Sales, World of Beauty and Social Responsibility. Women nominated themselves or those whom they thought were deserving of the awards through the portal www.almaraonline.com. A panel comprising Amal Al Zadjali, Shadya Al Ismaily and Mayank Singh then judged the nominations. Ernst & Young, the validation partner, did the final assessment.
The event had on board: Strategic Partner: Areej Vegetable Oils and Derivatives; Automobile Partner – BMW from Al Jenaibi International Automobiles. The support partners included Takaful Oman; Oman Oasis; Al Imtiaaz rice; Khimji Permoglaze paints and Al Bushra Medical Specialty Complex.
The Media Partners were Times of Oman and Al Shabiba and Print Partners were Ruwi Modern Printers. Light and Sound Partner – B.I.G., managed the evening.
The gift partners were Amouage, National Detergent Co, MaxFactor, Bourjois, Emirates Medical Centre, The Body Shop, International Medical Centre, Oman Flour Mills, Gulf Specialised Hospital, and Ooh La La Beauty Salon.
The event began with Alpana Roy, executive vice president, UMS Group, giving a welcome speech and a brief insight about the awards and highlighted the role of the magazine in celebrating women over the last 14 years. She said, “The Al Mar’a Excellence awards salutes the spirit of both the ‘aspiring’ and the ‘inspiring’ women. Over the years, it has become a rewarding experience for us too – to honour many women who have made women’s empowerment not just their choice, but also an aim and single-minded focus. It truly reflects the significant number of nominations we’ve been receiving year after year, and also a full house year after year.”
She also touched up the importance of breast cancer awareness in her speech.
An inspirational speech by Ibtisam Barakat Al Riyami, People and Change director at Petroleum Development Oman set the tone for the evening. Lauding each and every woman for her success, Ibtisam said, “Every single one of you has written your own story and today you are standing tall.”
The second speaker for the evening was Ghada Mohammed Al Yousef, the executive manager - Group Communication & Sustainability of Nama Group. She is also the managing director of Modern Hospitality Company, which runs the first modern Omani restaurant, Ubhar, and catering facilities. She said, “Prioritise and figure out exactly what you want and need.”
Mohammed Nayaz, Partner, Cyber & Resilience, AIM Advisory from Ernst & Young also, spoke at the event and gave an insight into the evaluation process and methodology of the awards. Talking about women in the workforce, he said, “Having more women in the organisation improves performance.”
The event was complemented by soulful music by musicians Farah Al Balushi and Talal Al Siyabi and some moving poetry by Nasra Al Adawi.
The red carpet evening ended with a sumptuous dinner. As the curtains came down on a memorable evening, the guests left looking forward to the 2018 edition of the awards.
