Fatima bint Mubarak Al Ketbi

Early life

Sheikha Fatima was born in Al Hayer in Al Ain as the only daughter to her parents. Her family is Bedouin and religious, like a traditional Emirati family. Her father died when she was young so her mother remarried and had two more sons, Suheil and Owad.

Activities

Sheikha Fatima is a supporter of women's rights in the UAE. She is the supreme chairperson of the family development foundation and significantly contributed to the foundation of the first women’s organization in 1976, the Abu Dhabi Society for the Awakening of Women. She was also instrumental in a nationwide campaign advocating for girls' education and heads the United Arab Emirates' Women Federation, which she founded in 1975. She is also the President of the Motherhood and Childhood Supreme Council. At the end of the 1990s, she publicly announced that women should be members of the Federal National Council of the Emirates.

Sheikha Fatima also supports efforts concerning adult literacy and provision of free public education for girls. An exclusive award named the Sheikha Fatima Award for Excellence has been presented in her honour since 2005 for the outstanding academic performance and commitment to the environment and world citizenship of the female recipients. The reward includes a full-tuition scholarship that extends to schools across the Middle East and in 2010 expanded to India. She has consistently supported women in sport and initiated an award called Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Award for Woman Athletes. Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak also created a Ladies sports academy called Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Academy in Abu Dhabi. Shaikha Fatima Institute of Nursing and Health Sciences in Lahore, Pakistan is named after her.

Awards

In 1997, five different organizations of the United Nations (UNICEF, WHO, UNIFEM, UNFP and UNFPA) awarded Sheikha Fatima for her significant efforts for women's rights. The UNIFEM stated, "she is the champion of women's right." She was also awarded the Grand Cordon of the Order by the then Tunisian president Zine el Abidine ben Ali in 2009 for her contributions to raise the status of Arab women. She was also given the UNESCO Marie Curie Medal for her efforts in education, literacy and women's rights, being the third international and the first Arab recipient of the award.

Marriage and children

Fatima bint Mubarak Al Ketbi was married to Zayed when he was the ruler of the Eastern region in the 1960s. She was spotted by her husband when engaging in a traditional dance. Fatima was the only spouse that remained married to Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan until his death. They moved to Abu Dhabi when Sheikh Zayed became the ruler in August 1966. She was his most influential and favorite spouse because of her influential personality. She is the mother of Sheikh Mohammed (born 1961), the current Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi; Sheikh Hamdan (born 1963), Sheikh Hazza, Sheikh Tahnoun, Sheikh Mansour, Sheikh Abdullah, Sheikha Shamma and Sheikha Alyazia. They are the most powerful block in the ruling family of Abu Dhabi, the Al Nahyans.