This week, we are very proud to have SustainableOman's very first webinar series on the Global Goals for Sustainable Development.
In focus is SDG 5 - Gender Equality and we have Ms. Wafa Al Amria, Chairman of the Omani Women Association in Seeb as our guest speaker.
The webinar will be held in Arabic.
According to the Supreme Council for Planning's Report (2019), Omani women’s associations are considered civil society organizations of a voluntary nature and independent administration managed by civil society itself. They strive to empower women, build their capacities and skills across various fields, and provide them with opportunities to exchange information, particularly in topics of interest. Omani women’s associations are spread across all governorates and provinces in the Sultanate and have witnessed an increase from 56 associations in 2012 to 65 by the end of 2018. Omani women’s associations have contributed to raising women’s awareness regarding their participation in parliamentary and municipal elections and their access to decision-making positions.
Related to this webinar, SustainableOman prepared an SDG5 wheel showing links to other SDGs and what Oman has organised towards achieving this goal.
Photo by Hawwa Al Qusimy - "for the love of our grandchildren
Mr. Charles Mauleverer is composing this Environmental Symphony with the intent to inspire climate action to collectively reverse global warming. SustainableOman was chosen for a photographic entry from Oman.
Winning Entry
The Environmental Symphony Photo Competition concluded on 30th June 2020 and the winning entry is from Dr. Hawwa Nasser Al Qusimy with the message, “for the love of our grandchildren”.
Hawwa is a retired doctor on emergency medicine from the Ministry of Health and now a professional photographer. She participated in various conservation projects especially those related to marine life and ready to help with any program that will help sustain the natural life and beauty of Oman and the world. After winning, she joined SustainableOman, too, as the Team’s Photographer and Interpreter, as she quipped,
“I hope it’s not only the photo that could remain and remind us the existing beauty of Oman, I hope the next generations will be able to witness themselves beyond what my lens have captured.”
The winning photo has been submitted to Mr. Charles Mauleverer to represent Oman in One Home: An Environmental Symphony.
Honorable Mentions
It is worth mentioning the other beautiful entries we have received and we would like to thank everyone who participated – it was indeed a happy challenge to decide which photos to represent Oman.
By Jacobus Croese – For the love of an unspoilt beach and unpolluted sea, enjoyed by the local Camels roaming freeMoosa Al Harjj – إذ تعد السلطنة من البلدان الغنية بمختلف أنواع النباتات، وتضم أراضيها مجموعة كبيرة متنوعة من النباتات وأشجار الفواكة والمحاصيل المختلفة صيفا وشتاء، فالمناخ بالسلطنة يشمل المناطق المعتدلة صيفا والباردة شتاء كنيابة الجبل الأخضر بولاية نزوى، ويتصدر الجبل الأخضر الذي يعد جزءا من سلسلة جبال الحجر قائمة الأنتاج الفواكة منها التفاح والخوخ والمشمش واللوز والجوز والعنب والكمثرى ووالكرز والزيتون ووالتين وكذلك تقطير ماء الورد.Chandra Prakash – for the love of oasis
SustainableOman, as a supporter of the SDGs and Oman Vision 2040, is proud to launch its second campaign, named "Hosn Al Suluk", Arabic for "good actions" or "good deeds/behaviour".
Preparatory meeting for the Suluk before the COVID19 pandemic.
In spite of a very challenging start of 2020, we at SustainableOman worked on adapting on these unprecedented times to make our efforts to raise awareness gain impact and meaningful to all.
Hosn Al Suluk, or Suluk for short, is an attempt to Omanise the Sustainable Development Goals. Each goal has 10 easy, daily actions that one can do each day until the 50th National Day of Oman on the 18th November 2020. They said, depending on the person's motivation, that it takes at least 2 weeks to change behaviour or habits...Suluk will give you 170 days, just enough to 'perfect' it!
Suluk will give every citizen and resident in Oman a role, right, and opportunity to help achieve end poverty, reduce equalities, and to act on climate change.
The earth is our home. Oman is our house. The people are our gift.
It is with great excitement that SustainableOman shares this wonderful opportunity with the community, just as we complete the recent 50th Anniversary of Earth Day 2020 celebrations.
Mr. Charles Mauleverer is composing this Environmental Symphony with the intent to inspire climate action to collectively reverse global warming.
SustainableOman was chosen for a photographic entry from Oman.
Photo Submission
SustainableOman is looking for photographs of something important and/or iconic to the Sultanate of Oman that will be affected by climate change.
The image shall be accompanied by a separate message in the format of “For the love of _______,” and the photo should represent this element or idea.
For example, a Canadian might say “For the love of glaciers,” with a photo of snowy Rocky Mountains, or, “Pour l’amour du sirop d’erable,” with a photo of the maple trees.
The message with your photo, in the above format, should be in either ARABIC or ENGLISH.
The message will be incorporated into the choir’s lyrics of the symphony and will also appear with the image.
Photo Requirements
SustainableOman is looking for photographs of something important and/or iconic to Oman that will be affected by climate change.
We urge photographers to visually realize this very important requirement of the photo competition, to think about and carefully reflect the work through this lens.
No more than two (2) photos per person
Photo(s) parameters:
jpg file format
landscape orientation
3000 x 2000 pixels (maximum of 6 MB)
no logo or watermark
Caption in Arabic or English “for the love of _________________”
File name: Last.First Name.Location_EnvSymph.jpg
There are no other specific requirements.
It is just really important to see Oman well represented.
Eligibility and Selection
Anyone living in Oman with a camera may participate and submit up to two (2) photographs for entry for the Environmental Symphony competition.
All submissions will be judged by an expert panel and one finalist will be selected.
Top Entry Award
Photo, message, and the first name of the photographer used in the Environmental Symphony to represent Oman
A plant or tree to beautify the finalist’s home or garden in Oman
Honorable Mentions
Recognized on SustainableOman’s website
Images possibly featured on SustainableOman’s website and promoted on our social media platforms
Permission
By entering the Environmental Symphony photo competition and submitting photographic entries for the project through SustainableOman, you give permission to use the photos, messages, and first name of the photographer by SustainableOman and the Environmental Symphony on all platforms where the symphony will be presented.
The aim is to perform the symphony in as many countries as possible around the world, raising awareness for the globally pertinent issues and social responsibilities surrounding climate change.
Ownership of the photo will remain with the artist.
Timeline
Please submit final entries to hello@sustainableoman.com by June 30, 2020.
The winner will be announced on July 15, 2020.
The ambition for this project is to create a recorded version of the symphony by the end of 2021, with all the countries’ photographic submissions included.
We look forward to receiving many submissions. We hope that this project presents a welcome and joyful distraction and an opportunity to bring about change, igniting creative ideas for personal actions to reduce carbon emissions.
Judges
Sarah Hale, a resident of Oman for nearly 10 years, is the co-founder and photographer at local company, Booma.
Sarah has a Bachelor of Arts in Photojournalism from University of Minnesota and over ten years experience working as a professional photographer in a range of subjects.
Her biggest passion is conservation and has done several projects with local organisations to create awareness about the precious biodiversity of Oman.
Oman’s first VNR reflects in an integrated manner the progress made by the Sultanate towards achieving the 17 SDGs.
From the board it shows that out of the 17 SDGs, Oman is according to 13 Goals!
Such an impressive feat inspite of the challenges at hand and ahead.
To conclude, I would like to quote from the VNR:
Aspiring to a bright future where the SDGs are achieved and based on the premise that these rights belong to all, the Sultanate of Oman firmly believes that achieving the SDGs cannot be realized by governments alone, but rather requires building strong partnerships with other parties, including individuals, the private sectors, and CSOs.
The Sultanate’s Ministry of Defence (MOD) issued a notice today in the use of Oman map. It advised the public that authorized and official maps are available and can be downloaded from the website of MOD’s National Survey Authority.
A sample of the approved outline Oman map is here.
The Ministerial Decision (MD) 48/2017 is the new regulation for organizing environmental permitting in Oman and that also cancelled the MD 187/2001.
As per MD 48/2017, an Environmental Permit is the approval issued by the concerned authority in the Ministry (in this case, MECA) including the permissions given to the owner to practice a certain activity after ensuring its environmental safety.
Several Environmental Permits may be applicable depending on the activities or processes involved in a proposed project or development. These activities are linked to the company’s registered business activities and are ISIC-based. Companies are to coordinate with MECA’s Environmental Assessment and Permit Centre (for guidance on environmental assessment requirements) and the online application to be made with MOCI’s Invest Easy Portal.
Most MECA-issued permits comes with conditions. Typical conditions, aside from employing best practices, conservation ethics, periodic monitoring reports submission, include securing a License.
But what is the difference?
License is issued based on an Environmental Permit and it addresses the technical sufficiency of the applicant’s facility. It is an upfront legal authorization used to allow practicing a restricted business activity.
As of this writing, MECA has listed 14 areas for licensing for companies or businesses (e.g., air, noise, soil and water, climate, etc.). Different types of licenses are applicable for Individuals and Public Institutions. Licenses are obtained from MECA’s Environmental Inspection and Control Department as well as Climate Affairs.
The timeline shows milestones across the history of sustainable development and important discoveries in the world vis-à-vis the major events in the Sultanate of Oman.
A quick glimpse of Oman’s steps towards sustainable development together with global events across diverse sustainable development themes.
As this is a working timeline, I would like to hear your comments, so we could improve it.
You can also download the file in PDF format here.
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