ABU DHABI // Nearly half the couples who file for divorce are reconciled after intervention by court family guidance departments, the Federal National Council heard on Tuesday.
The Minister of Social Affairs, Mariam Al Roomi, told members the courts were required to pass divorces case to their family guidance departments in an effort to reduce the numbers.
The minister attended the FNC at the request of Ali Al Nuaimi (Ajman), who said he had official statistics showing the number of divorces rose from 2,351 in 2012 to 2,443 last year, an increase of 4 per cent, and that this year there had been 11 divorces a day.
“I agree on what the member said that divorce is on the rise, but we have no accurate statistics,” Ms Al Roomi said. “This calculation is difficult.
“We have agreed with all courts that no divorce case is reviewed before being passed to Family Guidance, so that a specialist can look into reconciliation.”
The ministry also offered lectures and appeared at majilis to address issues such as family violence and reasons for divorce, the minister said.
The ministry had also reviewed ways to encourage fathers to be more involved with their children; passive parenting was found to be one cause of divorce, Ms Al Roomi said. “We worked on this before, we will again.”
The minister said the Cabinet’s decision to build nurseries at all government agencies was another way to support mothers and reduce the number of marriage disputes. However, the plan had not yet been implemented by the vast majority of employers.
Marriage problems were also common when the husband retired from work. The minister said they were encouraging men to volunteer after retirement.
“Divorce is an issue,” Mr Al Nuaimi said. “There is a rise in cases, and this is despite the ministry’s programmes. The increasing number affects society negatively. It’s not just about the married couples and children, but also the relationship between two families. It also means more people get social aid.”
He said 7,700 divorcees were receiving aid. “So why did the ministry remove this strategy from their future plans?”
He also asked if the ministry was studying the reasons for filed divorce cases.
“Divorce has bad implications on society, there needs to be a limit on it as much as possible, particularly in families with children,” he said.
“I hope the ministry continues to work on this and does not neglect it.”
The minister said she hoped divorce solutions would be addressed by 2021.
osalem@thenational.ae
Men's football draw
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Group C: Bharat, Denmark, Kenya, USA
Group D: Oman, Austria, Rwanda
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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Banned items
Dubai Police has also issued a list of banned items at the ground on Sunday. These include:
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Political flags or banners
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Bikes, skateboards or scooters
A State of Passion
Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi
Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
Rating: 4/5
Brief scoreline:
Crystal Palace 2
Milivojevic 76' (pen), Van Aanholt 88'
Huddersfield Town 0
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