Reflection on Meeting

Reflection on Meeting

Date: Tuesday 9^th October, 2012

Venue: W104

Time: 1130

Chairman: Ahmed Nabil

Secretary: Ahmed Naser

Participant, in the role of family court representative: Abdulla Reehan

Participant, representing women’s rights: Khuloud

Topic: divorce in the UAE

Agenda:

-Why is the percentage of divorce so high in the UAE?

-Why are the local men getting married to other nationalities?

-The advantages and disadvantages of getting a divorce?

-How should we reduce the divorce rate?

Ahmed Nabil Started the meeting by welcoming the guests and introducing himself and his secretary Ahmed Nasser. Ahmed Nasser started the first point toward Ms. Khuloud asking why the rate of divorce is high

.

Ms. Khuloud answered with four points.

11)    Quick change in society.

22)    Family interference in the couple’s life.

33)    Cultural clash.

44)    Arranged marriages

Ahmed Nabil Asked Mr. Abdulla Al-Tenaji what are the positive side and negative side of divorce:

Positive	Negative
If they were forced to get married so better for them to divorce	Hate between the two families
Divorce before having children so they don’t get psychological problems	Serious damage to the children during the divorce and after the separation of the parents

The chairman and his secretary gave the suggested solutions:-

i)                   Ahmed Nabil emphasized that there needs to be better education to prepare young couples for the pressures and problems of married life. The others concurred. How this would work in practice was not discussed in great detail.

ii)                In the event of marital problems, Khuloud suggested a cooling-off period. She thought that something like a marriage guidance advisory service should be developed. The others agreed.

iii)              Co-education would be a good preparation for both workplace and marriage, although it was accepted that this would be opposed by many and would require careful implementation.

           The meeting was well controlled by Ahmed Nabil. All members contributed to the discussion.

Ahmed Nabil closed the meeting at 1150

Experiences gained from the meeting experience

11)    The ability to engage with problems.

22)    Preparing an agenda with main points.

33)    The ability to work under pressure.

44)    Studying the problem’s roots to find solutions.

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