UAE Year of the 50th: First set of ‘Letters to the Future’ revealed
As campaign continues, participants can send their submissions until March 31
Dubai: The UAE Golden Jubilee Committee has announced the preliminary results of the successful Letters to the Future campaign launched in August 2021. The initiative invited all those who call the UAE home to write a letter to their future selves, mapping out their dreams and envisioning their future in the UAE.
The letters received from various age groups and demographics, across all emirates, cover 14 themes including sustainability, art, technology and medicine.
A significant percentage of the letters (29.8 per cent) focused on the philosophy of happiness and achieving a desirable quality of life. While 15.4 per cent of the letters addressed contributing towards the UAE’s future, expressing sincere gratitude and commitment to elevate the quality of life for all those who call this country home, one notable example was a letter by Abdulrahman Hassan Abdulla who wrote, “When my dream of becoming a general in the police force finally comes true, I will make sure that my country is one of the safest places to live.”
Given the unprecedented times that the world has experienced in the last two years, the data shows that 11.5 per cent of the letters submitted were from children wishing to be doctors in the future.
Health and medicine was referenced an overwhelming number of times. One of the dreamers, Khalifa AlKhoori, wrote, “In the next 30 years, UAE will be the first country to cure cancer and start distributing [the cure] to the whole world.”
The UAE’s youth also submitted many letters addressing issues of sustainability, indicating a good understanding of the current environmental challenges our world faces.
Many youngsters imagined a future with electric flying cars, and ground-breaking clean-and-green industrial development, led by the UAE. Technology, sustainability, and education marked more than 10 per cent of the letters submitted, while nearly five per cent of the letters expressed a deep commitment towards excelling in football and representing the UAE in global tournaments.
The Year of 50th’s website functions as a portal for important announcements and provides news updates about the Year of the 50th. It is also a time capsule that captures the Early Dreamers’ stories as well as the memories of the country and the aspirations of future generations.
The UAE Golden Jubilee Committee encourages anyone that calls the UAE home to submit their letters to the Year of the 50th’s website. Citizens and residents can use some of the prompts provided on the website to guide them through the writing process as they write to their future self, such as: “What is your dream in life?” or “What will be your contribution to making the UAE the best place for us all?”
Participants can submit their letters in various formats, including a hand-written note, typed letter, a video or even as an image on the website, until March 31, 2022, which marks the end of the Year of the 50th celebrations.