Social issues are her strength

Afra Al Basti, as head of Dubai’s support group for women and children, knew more than enough about human needs and assistance when appointed to the council in 2011, Ola Salem reports.

Afra Al Basti, a Dubai member of the FNC, was already director general of the Dubai Foundation for Women and Children before being appointed to the consultative body. Pawan Singh / The National

ABU DHABI // Before her appointment to the FNC, Afra Al Basti was already one of the country’s celebrated leaders.

But in the years before she became head of the Dubai Foundation for Women and Children, she faced hiccups in trying to find work.

At that time, a job in education seemed to be a woman’s only option. But over the years, as the country has developed, its leaders have encouraged women and offered them choices.

Starting as a teacher with the Ministry of Education, then Zayed University, Ms Al Basti eventually became executive director of the foundation, one of the most important organisations for women’s and children’s welfare.

Later, she became a member of the FNC on the orders of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, after she directed polling centres in Dubai during the 2011 elections.

Hala Badri, executive vice president for brand and communications at the telecoms company du, said the news of Ms Al Basti’s appointment had been welcomed by many.

“I felt our welfare was in confident hands,” Ms Badri says.

She says Ms Al Basti, who declined several times to be interviewed, has not let her high-powered positions affect the way she treats people.

“And that’s what we need, people who are human to us before they are just a title of authority.”

In the FNC, Ms Al Basti shares her expertise on social issues.

In a discussion about amendments to the Human Trafficking Law, she helped to convince the council to ensure greater rights to victims.

She assured members that a prostitution case would not be mistaken for a human-trafficking case after some voiced fears.

“Human trafficking cases are different,” Ms Al Basti told them. “I say this is a humanitarian crime and they are victims.”

During a debate in 2012 on the shortcoming of the Federal Electricity and Water Authority, Ms Al Basti read emails sent to the council from authority employees, saying they highlighted management’s disregard for staff.

The employees who forwarded the emails to the council had been later “questioned” and “investigated” by their managers.

After hearing this, Ms Al Basti called for the protection of all employees who provided the FNC with information.

“We ask for employees who deal with the FNC to be protected if they give us information that is not sensitive but related to the way employees are being dealt with, and the relationship of management with junior employees,” she said in a session last year.

“We asked for their protection from abuse.”

During a debate on the state of the economy, Ms Al Basti brought up a question that had been on the minds of many shoppers: why are luxury goods more expensive in the UAE than abroad, particularly as the UAE is tax-free?

She said Emiratis were spending large sums abroad on these items instead of shopping at home, where money would go towards the UAE economy. Sultan Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy, explained that prices in the Emirates were often high because of the costs of shop rentals.

Outside of the council chambers, Ms Al Basti has defended the Child Rights Law in a public forum.

“Who will put on trial those who sexually abuse children, without this law?” she asked.

“These crimes are new to our country. They have not always existed and this law is to address them.”