Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Chairman of Abu Dhabi Executive Council, on Thursday honoured the emirate's best-performing government departments for helping to cut infant mortality rates, championing Emirati culture around the world and making communities safer.
The Abu Dhabi Award for Excellence in Government Performance – held at Adnec – shone a light on the efforts of those working tirelessly to improve the lives of citizens and residents.
A total of 37 government bodies and more than 100 initiatives were assessed by scores of Emirati and international experts, alongside a grand jury comprising leaders from the public and private sectors.
“The Abu Dhabi Excellence Award is designed to motivate and elevate government entities, encouraging them to strive to be the best and align with the wider government agenda for excellence,” said Bader Al Zaabi, a member of the awards team.
“The aim is to bring the government together as one community, to collaborate, share best practices and continuously improve. Ultimately, the focus is on delivering public value and meaningful impact for the community, while ensuring sustainability and long-term progress.”
Award winners take centre stage
In the Excellence Award track, the Department of Health took top spot, with Abu Dhabi Police in second and the Department of Culture and Tourism third.
The health department was recognised for its critical work in reducing national infant mortality from 6.8 to 3.8 per 1,000 births in the past two years and achieving world-leading IVF success rates of 56 per cent.
Abu Dhabi Police force was praised for work to strengthen community connections, including through the We Are All Police campaign.
The strategy won the support of more than 80,000 volunteers from 160 nations, in addition to reducing average emergency response times to 6.25 minutes last year.
The tourism department was hailed for helping to increase the impact of tourism on the economy and for raising global awareness of Emirati culture and heritage.
The Community and Family Impact Initiative Award was given to the Al Falah Development Initiative, overseen by the Department of Community Development.
The scheme delivered 24 targeted programmes over six months to boost the quality of life of 67,000 residents in Al Falah.
Mazen Al Dahmani, corporate shared services director at the Department of Community Development, said the project had harnessed a treasure trove of data on challenges facing residents to effect meaningful change.
“When we initiated our interventions, we identified the key challenges facing the Al Falah district by examining eight areas, including health, security, education and family well-being,” he said. “We then worked in an integrated way with 14 government entities to develop solutions that addressed these challenges holistically.”
Improving residents’ sense of safety was a key priority, he said, with increased patrols and enhanced surveillance introduced in collaboration with the police.
“One of the major issues was a low sense of security among residents. In collaboration with Abu Dhabi Police, we increased patrols and enhanced surveillance, which led to a noticeable improvement in how safe the community feels.”
Efforts also focused on encouraging healthier and more active lifestyles. “Participation in physical activity was low, so we worked with the Abu Dhabi Sports Council to organise events, including a run that attracted more than 3,000 participants,” he said.
“At the same time, the Department of Municipalities and Transport supported infrastructure improvements, including new walkways, cycling tracks and 31 parks.”
The model is now being expanded across the emirate.
Charting emirate's rise
The Strategic Impact Initiative Award was presented to the Department of Health's Centre of Excellence programme for consolidating expertise in complex healthcare services under one unified framework and to the Statistics Centre Abu Dhabi for embracing modern methods to track the emirate's population surge and diverse demographic.
The centre was recognised for integrating 38 million records from across 29 government entities, replacing door-to-door surveys with an agile digital database charting dynamic population changes.
Abdulla Alqemzi, director general of the statistics centre, said the award reflects both institutional effort and broad collaboration.
“Having high-frequency demographic and population data allows decision-makers to take the right decisions at the right time,” he said.
“When you understand the demographics of a district, you can build the right schools, hospitals and services, ultimately improving the wellbeing of residents.”
The approach replaces traditional census methods with integrated data systems and advanced analytics.
“Instead of collecting data through forms over months, we integrate data from government entities using a scientific and innovative methodology.”
