Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Al-Roumi: Achieving happiness is not necessarily related to higher income


Thu 05 Jul 2018 | 08:57 PM
Taarek Refaat

Ohood Bint Khalfan Al-Roumi, UAE Minister of State for Happiness and Quality of Life said on Thursday that the quality of life represents the ultimate outcome of the integrated government work in all sectors.

This came during a speech by Al Roumi at a session entitled "Happiness and Quality of Life: The Ultimate Goal of Government Excellence" as part of the "Egypt 2018 Excellence Conference" held yesterday in Cairo under the patronage of President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, with the participation of a high-level UAE government delegation.

Al-Roumi said, happiness in the UAE is a journey started by Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan and was founded by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Ruler of Dubai, until the UAE became the happiest Arab country in the world happiness index.

She highlighted the central role of the system as an essential tool for the government in its efforts to improve the quality of life and achieve happiness for the inpidual and society.

Al-Roumi pointed out that achieving happiness is not necessarily related to the high level of income of the inpidual or the state, but is governed by factors that are more important. As confirmed by studies and statistics in many countries of the world, indicating that in the forefront of the elements of happiness is feeling safe, And the level of trust among members of society, in addition to the spread of values ​​of support and giving, but the most important factor is the quality of life in society.

The quality of life is a comprehensive concept achieved through the combined efforts of the government with all its institutions and programs and the integration of its work to improve the quality of life.

She added that the adoption of the concept of improving the quality of life in government policies and frameworks contributes positively to increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of government performance, and enhances projects and initiatives that make a positive difference in people's lives, pointing out that the high quality of life contributes to enhancing stability and increasing confidence in the government.

Al Roumi referred to the national happiness program launched by the UAE government to institutionalize happiness and quality of life, and the measurement mechanisms it developed to transform government work outputs into measurable data and results, focusing on assessing its impact on three levels, including employees, clients and society. She highlighted the implementation of a comprehensive set of community and government initiatives, as well as the development of specialized manuals, the preparation of advanced programs for capacity building and leadership, and the development of specific indicators for each level, resulting in the UAE being ranked first in the Arab world and twentieth in the World Report of happiness.