The United Nations has awarded Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, the Mother of the Nation, with a prestigious accolade in recognition of her work to empower women in the UAE. Sheikha Fatima was named an Agent of Change by the organisation UN Women in a ceremony in New York during the UN General Assembly. The Agent of Change Award recognises Champions of Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment, and was also presented to Sweden's foreign minister Margot Wallström and Retno Marsudi, the foreign minister for Indonesia. Sheikah Fatima, the wife of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan, the founding President of the UAE, has long championed women's rights, starting the UAE Women's Foundation in 1975, and has worked to promote female education with initiatives that include the Fatima bint Mubarak Annual Award for Education Excellence. This month she launched the Fatima bint Mubarak Volunteering Programme, which seeks to establish the culture of volunteer work and humanitarian giving among women and children, both locally and internationally, and which forms part of the Year of Giving.