UAE Cabinet adopts National Family Policy

The National Family Policy aims at raising awareness of the Emirati family's rights and duties.- Alamy Image

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has reaffirmed the directions of The President, His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, to provide utmost support for the UAE, considering family as the nucleus of society.
Sheikh Mohammed adopted the National Family Policy to build a stable and responsible Emirati family in line with the UAE Vision 2021 and UAE Centennial Strategy 2071. The National Family Policy was adopted during the UAE Cabinet meeting in the presence of Lieutenant General Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior and Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs
During the meeting, the Cabinet asserted that the UAE family is the foundation of the society and the base to achieve a modern and cohesive society.
"We have adopted the National Family Policy in the UAE. Our goal is a stable and prosperous Emirati family. The National Family Policy reflects our interest in the family, which is the nucleus of our society," Sheikh Mohammed said.
He also directed the Ministry of Community Development to coordinate with the relevant local and federal entities to implement the policy and its initiatives during the next phase.
The National Family Policy aims at raising awareness of the Emirati family's rights and duties to ensure their contribution towards sustainable social development by building and forming future Emirati families, capable of coping with the stresses of life, promoting the stability of family life for generations to come. It includes six components - marriage, family relations, balance of roles, child protection, family protection, and re-engineering the provision of family services to achieve family happiness.
The Cabinet also issued a Federal Law on regulating the profession of pharmacy, pharmaceuticals and medical products. The law aims to strengthen the capacity of the health sector in the country to combat diseases and provide health security to the UAE.
It also issued a Federal Law on the use of Information Technology and Communication in the health sector, in line with the federal government's efforts to upgrade health services to high levels of quality, and in accordance with the best international standards in this field. The law will regulate the use of technical systems, data storage, exchange, circulation and confidentiality of data, as well as the establishment of a central database among all health authorities in the UAE, to provide unified national information and database to retrieve reliable statistics.
The Cabinet adopted the UAE standards for radio receivers, which aims to attract international investments in the media field and provide an environment-friendly communication service that requires less energy to operate within internationally permitted limits.
Concerning organisational affairs, the Cabinet approved the restructuring of the Emirates Scientists' Council under the chairmanship of Sarah bint Yousif Al Amiri, Minister of State for Advanced Sciences, and the membership of a group of experts in the field of advanced sciences and technologies, that include Aref AlHammadi, Ghaleb Al Breiki, Habiba Al Safar, Alawi Alsheikh, Ali Al Zarouni, Mariam Al Shamsi, and Sehamuddin Galadari. The office of Al Amiri will assume the functions of the General Secretariat of the Council and provide technical and administrative support.
The Cabinet also approved the restructuring of the Arab Language Advisory Council under the chairmanship of Noura bint Mohammed Al Kaabi, Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development, and the membership of Bilal Al Budoor, Dr Latifa Ibrahim Al Falasi, Ibrahim Al Abed, Issa Saleh Al Hammadi, Jamal Khalfan bin Hawairb, Dr. Hussein Mohammed AlOthman, Dr Ali Saeed Al Kaabi, Dr Mohammed Safi Mostaganemi, Dr Abdul Salam Mohammed Haykal, Dr Karima Matar Al Mazrouei, Fatima Ghanim Al Marri, and Hamda Hassan Al Hammadi.
The Cabinet also adopted and ratified a number of international agreements, including the ratification of the Agreement on Mutual Administrative Cooperation and Assistance in Customs Matters between the UAE and Tajikistan, and the Agreement on Cultural Cooperation between the UAE and Senegal, to combat tax base erosion and transfer of profits in accordance with G20 decisions.