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UAE: Sheikh Mohammed announces new Ministry of Family

Sanaa Suhail will assume the new post, the Prime Minister said

Published: Sun 8 Dec 2024, 1:34 PM

Updated: Sun 8 Dec 2024, 9:41 PM

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A new ministry for family affairs has been formed in the UAE to empower families, strengthen their cohesion and stability.

Sanaa Suhail will head the Ministry of Family, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai announced on Sunday. He stressed: "The family is a national priority, the cornerstone of progress, and a guarantee for the nation's future".

Suhail worked in the fields of early childhood, family, supporting people of determination, and other sectors of community work during her years in government service, he explained.

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Sanaa Suhail

Sanaa Suhail

Recent annual meetings included directives from UAE President Sheikh Mohamed on "the need for comprehensive national programmes to increase family formation in the country, enhance their growth, empower them, strengthen their cohesion and stability, and raise fertility rates in the state", said the Prime Minister.

"The new ministry will be tasked with this important national matter," he added.

Main responsibilities

Sheikh Mohammed has also outlined the main tasks of the new ministry. Its main job will be developing and implementing policies, strategies, legislation, and initiatives related to the following:

  • Working to build stable and cohesive families and enhance the role of the family in proper upbringing.
  • Proposing policies and initiatives to increase fertility rates among citizen families.
  • Reducing the risks of family breakdown and its negative effects on individuals, families, and society.
  • Preparing couples for marriage, encouraging them, and equipping them to form cohesive and connected families, as well as organizing and managing marriage support programmes and grants.
  • Developing parenting skills and promoting work-life balance for families.
  • Caring for, protecting, and ensuring the well-being of children by securing their social, psychological, educational, health, and developmental rights.
  • Protecting, caring for, empowering, and integrating vulnerable and at-risk groups in society.
  • Regulating and licensing institutions and centres that provide social programmes and services.
  • Preparing and training personnel in the social sector and licensing professionals in this field.

Renaming ministry

In another post on X, Sheikh Mohammed also announced changing the Ministry of Community Development's name into the Ministry of Community Empowerment, headed by Shamma Al Mazrouei.

The Ministry's duties will be enhanced to focus more on developing an advanced and integrated system of social empowerment that increases community participation.

They will include managing the social support and empowerment system to ensure a dignified life for Emirati families with limited income, managing social support requests, and overseeing the disbursement of support to beneficiaries.

They will also include regulating, licensing and registering public benefit organizations, entities authorized to collect, receive, provide, or accept donations from within or outside the country, and monitoring and supervising their activities.

Promoting and organizing volunteer work by individuals, government entities, and private organizations will also be one of the Ministry's responsibilities, in addition to regulating and licensing houses of worship for non-Muslims, and monitoring and supervising their operations.

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