March 6 -8: Region 8 held a Membership Development Workshop in Dubai on 6-8 March 2014. Dubai is surrounded by a huge desert and survives off the mild ocean air of the Persian Gulf. It is a liberal Muslim monarchy. Thus, for example some Muslim women wear traditional Burkas and Western women wear jeans. It is part of the United Arab Emirates. Dubai is not an oil-rich Emirate and so needs to focus on other sources of income.