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Dubai Social Agenda 33, launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, may God protect him, on January 4, embodies the genius of His Highness’s leadership and his unique forward-looking vision in fortifying and consolidating the prestigious global position of the Emirate of Dubai, now and in the future.
The agenda, with a budget of AED 208 billion, is one of the fastest long-term development plans (10 years) in translating its objectives into reality. After about 8 months of its announcement, it witnessed the launch of dozens of projects, initiatives and programmes aimed at achieving its objectives in establishing the foundations of sustainable social development and providing services related to the direct lives of individuals, including health, housing, education, culture, sports and community development.
The announcement of the establishment of the “Dubai National University” last Monday, with an investment of 4.5 billion dirhams, confirms the continuous and diligent follow-up by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, of all the axes of the agenda, and the push towards the actual and rapid translation of its goals on the ground.
His Highness set a set of strategic goals for the university, which include being among the top 50 young universities over the next decade, one of the top 200 universities within 20 years, and among the top 3 universities locally in terms of the number of research contributions within 10 years. This will be achieved by providing quality academic programmes that enhance the educational system that supports Dubai’s ambitions and future, and consolidate its position among the top 10 cities in the world in terms of quality education over the next decade.
Since its launch, the Dubai Social Agenda 2033 has provided an exemplary model for how to combine and integrate economic and social empowerment, in a way that meets the aspirations of the community and responds to their ambitions.
Housing for citizens
Returning to the sequence of initiatives announced since the launch of the agenda, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum approved, on January 14, the first transformational projects in the year 2024, which is the allocation of 3,500 residential plots to be distributed to eligible citizens in Dubai, and the provision of 2,300 ready-made homes in various areas of Dubai at a value of 5.5 billion dirhams.
quality
His Highness issued Law No. (3) of 2024, establishing the “Dubai Foundation for Community Contributions” as a private foundation for public benefit. According to the law, the foundation establishes and manages the “Dubai Platform for Community Contributions – Jood”, which is concerned with developing the necessary plans to collect donations and provide funding sources through the platform, in line with the foundation’s general policy.
Dubai Schools
His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Executive Council, has approved the AED 530 million expansion project of Dubai Schools, which includes a new school in Al Khawaneej and the expansion of Dubai Schools Al Barsha branch, adding more than 6,400 school seats, 247 classrooms, 123 laboratories and specialized rooms to the educational landscape in the emirate, with the aim of increasing the total number of school seats in the Dubai Schools project as a whole to 15,000 seats by 2033.
The Dubai Schools project is one of the most prominent educational projects in Dubai that was approved by the Executive Council in 2021 to provide a unique and innovative Emirati school model that provides education with world-class standards.
Dubai Farms
His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Chairman of the Executive Council, and Chairman of the Higher Committee for Development and Citizens’ Affairs, launched the “Dubai Farms” programme, which provides a package of services and facilities aimed at supporting Emirati farmers who own productive agricultural projects.
The Dubai Farms programme meets the objectives of Dubai Social Agenda 33, which aims to achieve the ideal city in terms of living experience and services, empowering Dubai citizens and increasing their productivity and economic contribution to achieve self-sufficiency and financial independence, in addition to ensuring their family and social stability.
In turn, several government agencies in the Emirate of Dubai launched a group of initiatives, programmes and projects that formed “accelerators” to implement the goals and objectives of the agenda.
Dubai weddings
The Community Development Authority in Dubai announced the launch of the “Dubai Weddings” program, with the aim of providing support to citizens who are about to get married in the emirate, and alleviating their financial burdens, which encourages them to get married, and contributes to strengthening family stability.
The programme includes a package of initiatives such as covering the expenses of wedding parties for citizens of the Emirate of Dubai who wish to get married according to specifications and standards that suit their aspirations, as it provides wedding planning services and holding wedding parties in modern and fully equipped halls in a number of areas in the emirate.
Support for retirees
In turn, the Dubai Police General Command and the Department of Economy and Tourism in Dubai, represented by the Mohammed bin Rashid Establishment for SME Development, signed a memorandum of understanding to launch the “Supporting Retirees’ Projects in Dubai” program, which grants them several privileges, including giving them priority in government projects, providing funding for their future projects, exempting them from service fees for five years, in addition to supporting them with consultations that ensure their projects achieve the best returns.
The Retirees Projects Support Programme targets two categories of Dubai citizens: the first is current retirees, and the second is employees approaching retirement.
The programme, which includes the launch of a council for retirees with the aim of activating communication with them and meeting their needs, works to provide areas of work for retirees and those about to retire in order to find an additional source of income for them, which contributes to their family stability and at the same time employs their energies and experiences through active participation in the small and medium enterprises sector.
Real Estate Brokers
For its part, the Dubai Land Department launched the “Dubai Real Estate Broker Program” with the aim of enabling young citizens to benefit from economic opportunities in the real estate sector, and raising the percentage of citizen brokers from 5% to 15% over the next three years.
The programme includes 5 main projects, including: the National Broker License Project, the project to encourage developers to allocate a percentage of their sales to the National Broker, the Empowerment Project in the Real Estate Sector, the Emirates Business Group for Real Estate Brokerage Project, in addition to the qualification project by involving them in some specialised courses under the supervision of the Dubai Land and Property Department.
positive family
In the context of strengthening the bonds of communication, dialogue and positive interaction between family members in Dubai, the Dubai Foundation for Women and Children announced the launch of the “Positive Family” program, which includes 12 training sessions and aims to train workers in the psychological, social and educational sectors to use effective positive educational skills during their interaction with children to meet their needs. It also seeks to provide intensive training for professionals in the psychological, social and educational sectors, in a way that contributes to providing them with the necessary skills to develop strategies for dealing with behavioral challenges that families may face.
Psychological well-being
The Dubai Health Authority has launched a comprehensive and integrated system to support the psychological well-being of the Dubai community, which includes 10 initiatives to achieve the highest levels of psychological well-being within mental health in the community, to be implemented over the next five years at a cost of up to 105.08 million dirhams.
Dubai Housing
The launch of the Dubai Integrated Housing Centre in Avenue Mall Nad Al Sheba, which provides 54 housing services to citizens from 4 government entities in one place, embodies one of the most prominent goals of the agenda in achieving family stability and providing suitable housing for citizens.
The center provides an integrated housing experience that includes support and consultations to reach the best housing options that suit citizens’ aspirations, and accompanies them on the journey of building their homes from the beginning until they receive them.
The center provides support and advice services to citizens by consultants and experts, in relation to designing the future home, to provide the necessary assistance in choosing the interior design and colors, calculating the estimated cost of the home, and choosing the design that suits each budget according to the number of family members, whether large or small.
Academic scholarship
Also within the framework of the agenda initiatives, came the launch of the “Hamdan bin Mohammed Academic Scholarship Program” with a total financial allocation of AED 1.1 billion for the coming years, as the program will provide 100 scholarships annually for citizen students from the Emirate of Dubai who are graduates of public and private schools with various educational curricula.
Neighborhood Councils
Dubai has adopted a plan to build and operate five neighbourhood councils in Nad Al Sheba 2, Al Barsha South 1, Al Warqa 3, Al Aweer 2, and Hatta, which will begin operating during the fourth quarter of 2025 to serve as a centre for hosting events and occasions for residents of residential neighbourhoods, and provide a platform for communicating with them and enhancing their social cohesion.
The plan to build and operate five new neighbourhood councils meets the objectives of Dubai Social Agenda 33, which aims to achieve happier, more cohesive and tolerant families that adhere to national values and identity, and ensure family and social stability for Emiratis.
