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The author indicated that UAE latest
reforms that have prompted much
scrutiny and some searing commentaries
in the media. Among the features of
the reforms was the creation of a new
Ministry of Tolerance and a Ministry of
Happiness. The minister of youth named
in the reforms is 22 years old.
He said that I was in the UAE to moderate
the fifth edition of Foreign Policy’s
PeaceGame project, which we host with
the support of the Emirati government.
That said, the views expressed in this
column are mine, independent of that
relationship.
He added that All this in a country where,
during the year of its founding in 1971,
there were a few dozen residents who
had a university degree. But education
has become such a priority that the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
the Sorbonne, and NYU have all opened
campuses there, in part because they
believed in the quality of the education
and training of the locals on which they
would depend. Today, the UAE ranks
higher than any other country in the
Middle East in educational attainment of
all students, 45th in the world.
He also stressed that but by other metrics,
the country also does well. The tiny
country of 10 million ranks 30th in the
world by GDP, according to the World
Bank. In the World Economic Forum’s
2016-2015 Global Competitiveness Index,
it ranks 17th. The WEF also ranked the
country fourth in the world in terms of
infrastructure, second on the planet in
terms of air transport infrastructure, and
first for roads.
He said that According to Mercer’s 2016
Quality of Living rankings, Dubai and
Abu Dhabi are not only the two highest
ranked cities in the Middle East and
North Africa, they also outrank all cities in
Latin America and throughout the global
south. Which brings us back to the UAE’s
recently announced reforms. The idea of a
government focused on happiness is not
new, of course. This is not something new
to the UAE either. Measuring happiness
has been a goal of the government for
years. In fact, measuring every aspect
of the performance of their
government has been a
goal for years. The
UAE was, to my
knowledge,
the
first government
in the world
to rate and
later to rate in
real time the
performance of
ministers against
key metrics set for
them each year.
He also said that
the
idea
behind
creating a Ministry
of Tolerance is also
much older than the
ministry itself. The
country
was
founded by its
visionary first
Ruler, Sheikh
Zayed bin
Sultan
Al
Nahyan, with principles of tolerance in
mi nd .
He also indicated that as the country has
tried to shift the way government services
are delivered to citizens via apps another
area in which it is a world leader the
attitude has been much as it would be in
Silicon Valley. Failures are seen as part of
the process, something to be accepted
as a price that is paid for innovation. At
the same time, it is searching the world
for best practices that can be embraced,
a goal that it has institutionalised by
convening for the past four years the
most important conference in the
world of top leaders discussing
issues of national governance.
It was coinciding with this
event that the most recent
round of reforms were
announced.