Overseas Pakistani Friends

Mehmood-Ul-Hassan Khan

H.H. Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE President and H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai and other leaders are keen to foster the pace of ongoing social development. They have already established the high values of social justice, rule of the law and interfaith harmony in order to ensure the political stability and to continue social development in the country. The holistic social development programs are going on in all the federating units of UAE under the visionary leadership of Sheikh Khalifa. It also shows sincere determination of the leaders to protect the social fabric of both the local as well as foreigners in the UAE. The unity and cohesion of UAE political system and articulated society is the resultant of tireless efforts of the late Sheikh Zayed and now being carried forward by Sheikh Khalifa in a bid to achieve new remarkable heights of social development. They have been passionate about the welfare of their people. They started short term and long term diversified but integrated programs to uplift the standards of living, healthcare, schooling, housing, clean drinking water, security and above all women empowerment. It is seemed that from dynasties to dynamics everyone is playing contributory role in the social development of the UAE due to which they have succeeded to bring sustainable social revolution and the caravans of prosperity, progression and political unity goes on and on. Social development is a continuous process due to which in the current UAE’s federal budget (2010) the government increased public spending by 3.4 percent next year despite the global economic downturn which shows its strong commitment towards the betterment of its people. It allocated a total of Dh9.8 billion towards many projects of schools and higher education which representing 22.5 percent of the total budget. A further Dh7.6 billion or 17.5 percent of the total allocation has been set for infrastructure development projects throughout the country. The social sector, education and health got the lion share i.e. 41 percent of total allocation, infrastructure development 17.5 percent and government services 39 percent. UAE’s millennium development goals (MDGs) also verify that social development is the strategic priority. It is that UAE government is proactive to achieve all goals of MDGs. It is eradication of extreme poverty and hunger, achieving of universal primary education, promotion of gender equality and empowerment of women, reduction child mortality, improvement of maternal health, combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, and the last not the least insurance of environmental sustainability the visionary leaders of the UAE are there to deliver. To achieve societal equilibrium and create balance among the different sectors of the economy UAE allocated farmland to farmers and secured cooperative marketing for their products. Financial and material support also already provided. Incases of education, UAE has succeeded to achieve universal primary education targets for 2015. The net enrolment rates for grades 1-5 is 98 % in 2005, which suggests 100% target ratio is achievable by 2015. UAE has the ideal place for gender equality not in the GCC but also in the world. The ratio of girls to boys in grades 1-5 and 6-9 was 94.8 and 92.9 in 2005. Enrollment in universities and higher education women has already surpassed the boys. The General Women’s Union (GWU) launched in 2006 a UAE gender mainstreaming project has achieved great success. UAE has phenomenal growth in the healthcare sector. Child mortality and infant morality rates have been reduced. The government of UAE under the people’s friendly leadership paid special attention to improving maternal health and they succeeded to do so. UAE is taking all possible measures to achieve sustainable environmental equilibrium. Rigorous environmental legislations and regulations have already been parasitized. Holistic Social Public Policy Continue reading »