Meeting the challenge

Dubai is considered one of the world's fastest growing cities and is a top performer as measured in terms of economic growth and level of GDP per capita.

International comparisons of the drivers that sustain economic growth show that only those countries with an infrastructure supporting effective social development are able to sustain higher levels of continuous economic growth.

The UAE national culture is traditionally based on extended families and has provided a sound basis for Dubai's social development sector. Significant efforts have been made to provide the required infrastructure to support service delivery.

Social services are currently accessible to all Emiratis at minimal or no cost. These services include health services, education opportunities and social assistance services.

The development of the education system has been a major focus for the public and private sector. There exists a wide range of educational offerings available from nursery level to higher education.

Public education services are provided free of charge to Emiratis while the private sector offers a wide range of educational services catering to the requirements of various nationalities living in Dubai.

Similarly, the public and private healthcare sectors have made significant investments in developing services to meet the needs of the growing population.

The public healthcare system provides primary, secondary and tertiary care to both nationals and expatriates. Emiratis are able to access these services at no cost while the charges to expatriates are competitive.

The rapid growth in the private health system has increased the number of services available and reduced the burden on the public system.

A wide range of social assistance services has been provided by the government and non-government organisations to ensure that Emiratis' essential social needs are met.

These social assistance services have been primarily focused on housing support for individuals. In addition, efforts have been made to develop training programmes to promote UAE national participation in the workforce and to supplement the progress that has been made in the public education system.

The growing population and the presence of a large number of different nationalities have resulted from the significant influx of foreign workforce that has been attracted to participate and benefit from the unprecedented rapid economic growth.

This has created a unique multicultural environment with rich opportunities for cultural interaction and cooperation.

For economic success to be sustained, it is absolutely crucial that the social development sector infrastructure be developed. Only by improving performance in key areas such as education, health, social assistance and working environment, can economic prosperity be sustained and enhanced.

Aims

To ensure that the Social Development Sector is equipped to deliver the services required to meet the challenges of Dubai's rapidly changing socio-economic environment, the Dubai Strategic Plan (DSP) has set aims for seven core development areas.

Strategic Thrusts

In order to achieve the social development aims, the following strategic thrusts will be pursued. The proposed strategic thrusts address the current challenges and establish the foundation for meeting future development needs.

(1) Preserve national identity and improve community cohesion
• Revise immigration policies and regulations in order to ensure and maintain demographic balance
• Increase the sense of belonging and the awareness of the local culture and other major cultures by updating the content of the educational curriculum, and developing the skills of the teaching faculty
• Raise cultural awareness through consistent, appealing and professional cultural content
• Improve Arabic language proficiency

(2) Increase Emiratis' participation in the workforce and society
• Support UAE nationals so they become the preferred employees in strategic sectors through education and skills development
• Equip UAE nationals with the life skills required for living in a rapidly changing environment
• Increase Emiratis' awareness of their anticipated role in the future development

(3) Improve the achievement of students
and ensure all UAE nationals have access to quality education
• Improve the education sector governance structure
• Increase autonomy of public schools' management while enforcing performance transparency and accountability
• Upgrade teacher qualifications to improve public school performance
• Upgrade the curriculum to meet international standards
• Raise awareness and improve the educational environment to improve attitudes towards education
• Create and support inclusive education for students with special needs in the public and private sector

(4) Improve the quality of healthcare services and the health status of the population
• Improve the healthcare sector governance structure
• Introduce health insurance to ensure access to care
• Improve health system planning to ensure service availability, accessibility and quality
• Encourage international accreditation for hospitals
• Improve rigour of licensing for clinical workforce and develop clinical guidelines
• Focus on health awareness to improve the public's attitude towards health

(5) Ensure quality social services are provided to meet the needs of the population
• Improve the social services sector governance structure
• Establish a planning function to ensure availability of and access to appropriate services
• Migrate service delivery model from 'Welfare' to a 'Social Development' approach
• Develop the capacity and qualifications of the workforce providing social services
• Mobilise voluntary social work and civil society organisations

(6) Ensure equality and acceptable working conditions for workforce and attract and retain required expertise
• Coordinate with federal authorities to improve and update labour regulations
• Develop and improve enforcement mechanism for labour regulations
• Increase employers' and employees' awareness of their legal rights and duties
• Provide the environment needed to attract and retain required expertise

(7) Enrich cultural environment
• Improve governance of the cultural sector
• Upgrade the regulatory framework for cultural organisations
• Develop physical infrastructure to promote cultural activities
• Increase awareness and interest in cultural activities
• Identify and nurture talents
• Focus on availability of quality cultural activities