As the 46th National Day for the UAE dawns, it provides the perfect vantage point to look at the grand, sweeping scale of the country’s multifarious accomplishments that have turned into lessons in the modern-day narrative of successful nation-building. Four decades and six years is a small unit in the timescale of a nation’s historicity, but the UAE has shown that the right vision, combined with an unshakeable commitment to progress, can endow even a young age with an impressive sagacity. The most laudatory characteristic of the UAE, now acknowledged globally, is that while it has been fostering its own progress with an undimmed enthusiasm over the last 46 years, it has also been steadfast in its commitment to the needs of the international community. This is a more challenging responsibility than it seems, fraught with imbalanced outcomes, but it is to the credit of UAE that it has emerged as a global role model in this highly complex task.
Guided by the values and wisdom of its founding fathers, with deep roots in its heritage and identity, the UAE has crossed numerous milestones in every field of development and this is entirely owing to its ability to yoke strong policies with efficient implementation. The result is that in less than five decades, it has become a regional role model and an example for the fraternity of nations.
A top humanitarian hub in the world, the UAE, with its unique social unity of nationals and expatriates, robust economic health, world-class infrastructure and facilities, health-care system, educational opportunities, environmental priorities, youth and women empowerment and gender balance policies, and a dynamic, task-driven governance, has demonstrated to the world how even young nations can become leaders. Its creation of ministers of Future, Climate Change and the Environment, Tolerance, Happiness and Well-being, Youth Affairs, and Artificial Intelligence attest to its determination to lead rather than be led by the dictates of time.
Coming of age in the 21st century brings its own challenges for a country and the UAE’s accent on future skills, future sciences and future technology, even as it proudly upholds its inimitable identity and heritage, proves that it is fully cognizant of this truth as it gets closer to Vision 2021, the year of its 50th National Day, and UAE Centennial Plan 2071, moving towards its goal of becoming the best government in the world.
