While theelection captured the headlines in 2006, human
developmentis the highlight of 2007
In this annual review, dedicated to UAE National Day, we try to recall the major events and national achievements made in the past year.
Last year it was the election that dominated this publication, as it marked the UAE's first election of half the members of the Federal National Council (FNC). It was part of the country's drive towards greater participation of UAE citizens in public life.
It also saw Emirati women become FNC members to actively participate in the policy-making process and shape their country's future.
While the election captured the headlines in 2006, human development is the highlight of 2007.
We also underline the other major events of 2007, such as the unprecedented announcement of the Federal Government Strategy that placed education high on the list of priorities.
Therefore, readers will surely notice that the federal strategy and education initiatives of this year dominate our review.
The key goals of the strategy, announced in April by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai - before President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan - include achieving sustainable development and defining the government's priorities.
Working closely with the ministers, Shaikh Mohammad personally supervises the implementation of the strategy to ensure it meets its goals, which include improving performance in various sectors to meet international standards.
The next step following the announcement of the strategy was to come up with practical plans. For this purpose, Shaikh Mohammad held two landmark brainstorming sessions with the ministers - one in the deep desert and another in the Eastern Region.
Ministers were given full administrative and financial independence and wide powers in preparation for this stage.
Although it is too early to judge the performance of each ministry, assessment of performance is an ongoing process that started from the first stage, to review what has been accomplished so far in the quest to improve services, achieve development rates and update legislation to achieve further national gains.
Education and culture are placed high on the strategy after years of focusing on economic growth, which placed the UAE among the fastest growing countries in terms of its GDP, economic growth rates and construction boom.
The UAE has become a leading regional and international financial centre, and a strategic option for local and foreign investors due to its liberal economic policies.
Apart from being an oil-exporting country, the UAE has adopted liberal policies to diversify its sources of income, and encouraged the tourism, contracting, trade and service sectors to play a role in the country's development process.
With education being allocated the lion's share of the 2007 federal budget, the UAE is obviously heading towards establishing a knowledge-based economy.
Ambitious programmes and local education councils have been established, while the private sector has been encouraged to invest in primary and university education.
However, it was the outstanding initiatives launched by Shaikh Mohammad that were under the media spotlight this year.
The launch of the Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation with a $10 billion endowment stands as evidence to the country's drive towards promoting human development and improving knowledge infrastructure in the Arab world, while the Dubai Cares campaign aims to educate one million children in poor countries worldwide.
The nation's keen interest in education goes beyond local and regional borders as part of the UAE's policy of openness, which from a humanitarian angle considers regional and international development inseparable from its domestic development.
Openness to the world and forging partnerships with prominent international education institutes such as the Sorbonne and Harvard universities, and international cultural institutes, such as the Louvre and Guggenheim museums, clearly reflects the image of the UAE as a state of education and knowledge, not just that of oil and business.
The UAE's future programmes and strategies bear a significant human element that no one can deny, especially if we consider the developments in human rights and updating legislation to meet international standards.
In this regard, new laws have been issued concerning human trafficking, women and children's rights and animal welfare, in addition to the country's ongoing efforts to draft appropriate laws to protect workers rights.
This human element is not alien to the deeply rooted culture of giving in the UAE and its people, and has been repeatedly demonstrated by Shaikh Mohammad in his daily acts.
Shaikh Mohammad's visits to schools and warm chats with students, his visits to the homes of the elderly and accepting a lunch invitation from a UAE national in the Eastern Region, set an example of unique leadership.
The pictures of the Vice-President sitting on the ground and chatting with the ministers over lunch left a deep impression, and will not be erased from the memory of the nation.
