|
||||||||||||
Hamdan Bin Mohammed Honours Challenge 71 Program Winners |
||||||||||||
|
His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of the UAE, and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai, affirmed that investing in people, and enabling their development, empowerment, and leadership skills, is a key pillar of the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, and aligns with the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to enhance the UAE’s readiness for the future. This came as His Highness honoured the champion and winning team members of the ‘Challenge 71 Program,’ the national initiative launched by His Highness during the UAE Government Annual Meetings 2024 and implemented under the management of the Government Development and the Future Office. The initiative provides a pathway to identify exceptional leadership traits of the most promising young government leaders who could shape the future of the UAE while at the same time fostering a strong sense of collaboration and team spirit. It brought together 32 participants from leading federal and local entities who were assessed based on their ability to respond to four key challenges: community empowerment, resilience, adaptability, and building leadership character. His Highness stated: “A year ago, we launched the Challenge 71 Program for young government leaders, a Program that brought together distinguished Emirati talent from federal and local entities who competed in major leadership challenges with forward-looking perspectives designed to strengthen the UAE’s future readiness. Challenge 71 stems from the UAE leadership’s conviction that those who make a difference are those who lead change. Today, as we honour the winner of this challenge, we reaffirm our belief that investing in human capability is the best investment for the future. We look with confidence to our young Emiratis and our creative government talent across all fields. The UAE leadership has high expectations of you, and our trust in you is profound. Your nation has great expectations of you.” His Highness congratulated the ultimate champion of the challenge and praised the 32 participants whose contributions helped launch an unprecedented national initiative rooted in teamwork, a spirit of positive competition, continuous learning, and a culture of resilience, readiness, and innovation in designing solutions. His Highness emphasised that the next mission for all participants in the programme will be to exhibit the highest degree of excellence in serving the nation, elevating the UAE community, and applying their insights to develop impactful solutions to the challenges facing their respective entities. Champion and winning team members His Highness honoured the Challenge champion, Dr. Salem Al Marri, Engineer and Officer at Dubai Police General Headquarters, along with the winning team, which included Aisha Shahdad, Director of Support Services at Sharjah Broadcasting Authority; Sarah Alraeesi, Director of the Fujairah Government Excellence Award Department; and Afra Al Suwaidi, Senior Manager of Strategy and Planning at Expo City Dubai. The event was attended by His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, Chairman of Dubai Airports, and Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Airline and Group;and His Excellency Omar bin Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications. On the occasion, Her Excellency Ohood bint Khalfan Al Roumi, Minister of State for Government Development and the Future, praised His Highness Sheikh Hamdan’s patronage and constant follow-up in relation to the Challenge 71 initiative. Her Excellency affirmed that the challenge succeeded in identifying the best of the best amongst promising young Emirati leaders, adding that their impactful roles will doubtless help shape the future of government work at both the federal and local levels. Her Excellency noted that the challenge had established an advanced government model for capacity-building, empowering talent and skills, and shaping the government of the future, embodying the leadership’s vision of investing in young national talent and enabling them across all areas of government work. She emphasised that Challenge 71 assessed distinctive leadership qualities and strengths among participants while helping them build resilience, collaboration, and team spirit in the face of challenges. She noted that participants in the challenge had excelled at every stage, demonstrating strong competencies in resilience, adaptability, rapid response, and leadership under pressure. Her Excellency congratulated the Challenge champion, the winning team, and every single participant for the outstanding performance and deep commitment they demonstrated throughout the six-month duration of the challenge. |
||||||||||||
