United Nations rewarded the UAE for its contribution to government modernization

The UAE has confirmed its status as one of the growth leaders on the planet once again, by being honored with a special award by the United Nations for government modernization. The 18th edition of the United Nations Public Service Awards (UNPSA), which is the most prestigious global award in the public service sector, took place on 13 December.During the ceremony, 17 countries in total, including the UAE, were rewarded for applying different technologies in order to improve public services.

The UNPSA was attended by Catherine Pollard, Under-Secretary-General for Management Strategy, Policy and Compliance, United Nations and Mohammad Abdullah Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs, who was the recipient of the award on behalf of the government. He said:

The award reflects the UAE’s exceptional achievements in developing an agile government model based on designing proactive services, promoting efficiency and enhancing competitiveness. The award came as a new international testimony on the development of the UAE, led by a futuristic, pioneering and innovative government, and demonstrating the vision of its leadership aiming to develop proactive future services.

Over the past few years, the UAE has launched numerous initiatives to promote the development of the country, including strategic partnerships with 9 countries in the frame of the government modernization exchange programme. Thanks to these partnerships, a total of 241 successful initiatives in over 55 working fields took place and 290,000 trainees and employees were upskilled through 565 workshops and 3 million training hours. Another major initiative is the Dubai Paperless Strategy, launched in 2018, which has facilitated government services significantly since the launch. The paperless programme means neither employees nor customers of the Dubai government require printing any paper documents or transactions unless they personally prefer doing so, for any government services. On 13 December 2021, the Dubai Media Office announced on Twitter that Dubai became the first paperless government in the world, thus, achieving the key objectives of the Dubai Paperless Strategy.

Moreover, the UAE took first place in the region and the 21st position worldwide in the E-Government Survey 2020 conducted by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. It also ranked 3rd globally in the Government’s Responsiveness to Change indicator and 4th in the Government Long-Term Vision indicator, as stated by the Global Competitiveness Report issued by the World Economic Forum (WEF). Not forgetting that the country took the 3rd positio