Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid leads first Cabinet meeting since reshuffle

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  Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Prime Minister, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, heads the first UAE Cabinet meeting since the restructuring. Wam

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  The Cabinet holds its first meeting after the restructuring in early February. Wam

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  L-R: Dr Abdulrahman Al Owais, Minister of Health and Disease Prevention, and Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak, Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development, at the Cabinet meeting. Wam

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  L-R: Mohammed Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs and the Future, Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid, Minister of Finance, and Sheikh Abdullah vin Zayed, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, at the Cabinet meeting. Wam

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  Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs and Sheikh Saif bin Zayed, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, at the first UAE Cabinet meeting since the restructuring in early February. Wam

DUBAI // The Prime Minister has told the reshuffled Cabinet that it must serve Emiratis, work among them and focus on making their lives easier.

In his address to the Cabinet’s first meeting, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, also Ruler of Dubai, told ministers where their main responsibilities lay.

“The Emirati is at the core of our daily work and the end goal of improving the government sector is to serve Emiratis,” Sheikh Mohammed said.

He called for innovative strategies to tackle the national priorities of youth, knowledge and community development.

“I would like you all to present a 100-day work plan, especially for the new ministries and those that have had many changes,” Sheikh Mohammed said at the Presidential Palace.

“Our goal is to expedite progress. Today, countries and governments are measured not by size but by speed. I want you to be in the field with the people, addressing challenges and hammering out solutions and making a real change in government work.

“We have a number of national priorities to address, such as youth, knowledge development, community development, climate change, future trends and the post-oil phase. We will develop new innovative mechanism to address them.

“Our real success will be measured by people’s satisfaction and by making their lives easier, because the post is a responsibility in front of Allah and the people.”

On February 8, he announced the names of eight new ministers – five of them women – including ministers of state for youth, tolerance and happiness.

The new-look Cabinet was the largest revamp in the history of the federal Government.

In a letter published on Saturday, Sheikh Mohammed explained the reasons for the overhaul.

He also stressed the need to learn from the unrest in the Middle East, the results of failure to respond to the aspirations of young people and the importance of providing them with opportunities to achieve their ambitions.

The Prime Minister yesterday welcomed the new ministers and praised the work of former Cabinet members.

He said the next decade would need a doubling of efforts to achieve progress in services and development.

Sheikh Mohammed said that under the leadership of the President, Sheikh Khalifa, the country had made progress in all fields and was now starting a new phase of government work.

The Cabinet on Sunday endorsed decrees to restructure the Ministerial Council for Services and rename it the Ministerial Development Council, which will be chaired by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs.

New foundations were also set up, as were councils reporting to the Cabinet.

Later on Sunday on Twitter, Sheikh Mohammed described chairing a “post-reform Cabinet meeting. A government seeing the future with positive energy and youth’s optimism”.

The Government was “going through a phase of change”, he tweeted.

The Cabinet also endorsed the establishment of an Education and Human Resources Council, to be chaired by Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

The council will focus on aligning education and human resources policy to ensure education meets market demands and future trends.

The Emirates Scientists Council will be chaired by Sara Al Amiri, deputy project manager and science lead at the UAE Mars Mission. The council will prepare a generation of national scientists, Sheikh Mohammed said.

The Cabinet also endorsed the foundation of the Emirates Youth Council, to be chaired by Shamma Al Mazrui, Minister of State for Youth, to develop youth-related strategies and understand the views of younger citizens.

The youth council’s average age is 23 years, with members including electronic engineers, nuclear regulatory inspectors, safety analysts, authors and legal researchers. Several council members are also studying for postgraduate degrees.

The Emirates Health Services Corporation was formed to run and operate federal hospitals and health centres, and the Emirates School Education Corporation was set up to operate federal schools and kindergartens. It will supervise and regulate federal schools across the UAE and set up a unified student database.