About the Entrepreneurship Leave for Self-employment and “Jahiz” for the future of government talents The Federal Authority for Government Human Resources wins the gold and bronze medals of the Middle East & North Africa Stevie® Award

Recently, the Federal Authority for Government Human Resources (FAHR) won the Gold and Bronze awards, among the Middle East & North Africa Stevie® Awards for the year 2024, for the two initiatives; “Jahiz” for the future of government talents, and the Entrepreneurship Leave for Self-employment for Federal Government UAE National employees.

“Jahiz” Initiative, the smart national digital platform for empowering federal government talents with future skills, won the gold award for the category of innovation in websites for education or training. The Entrepreneurship Leave for Self-employment for Federal Government UAE National employees initiative received the bronze award for the category of innovative achievements in the field of human resources.

In this regard, H.E Laila Al Suwaidi, the Director General of the Authority, confirmed that “Jahiz” Initiative, which was 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,” in November 2022, became global, in terms of the idea and effect, as it was chosen by the World Economic Forum (Davos) among the top 9 pioneering global projects in its global report, “Building Readiness for Tomorrow,” which monitors the best leading and inspiring practical institutional practices for future readiness.

The two awards were received by Maryam Al Zarooni, Director of Government Human Resources Planning at the Authority, and Zayed Al Qahtani, Director of the Performance and Follow-up Department, during a majestic ceremony organized in the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, attended by representatives of the award and participating countries.

“Jahiz” Initiative had previously received the “Future Workplace Awards” as the best initiative that employs modern technology and artificial intelligence techniques in education, training and development of government human resources. It also won the UAE Innovates – 2024 Award, for the category of best innovation in the use of resources, at the end of the activities of the UAE Innovation Month, which was organized by the Mohammed bin Rashid Center for Government Innovation, under the slogan “Impactful Innovations”.

Mrs. Al Suwaidi stated that “Jahiz” is one of the transformational projects that contribute to developing employees and investing in their capabilities, enhancing the readiness of government talents with future skills, and raising the level of their participation in implementing the leadership’s directives and ‘We the UAE 2031’ vision.

The Entrepreneurship Leave for Self-employment

The Entrepreneurship Leave for Self-employment for Federal Government UAE National employees was launched by the UAE Government at the beginning of 2023 as part of the Next 50 Initiatives. It is considered the first of its kind in the world, as it aims to enabling federal government employees to engage in the private labor market, and to establish and manage their entrepreneurship projects in this vital and important sector.

This leave reflects the pioneering thought of the UAE leadership, encouraging the UAE national cadres to enter the world of entrepreneurship. It targets UAE national employees working in the federal government authorities. It is granted to the employees in order to establish or manage their own business projects and is valid for one year with pay.

“Jahiz”

“Jahiz” Initiative contributed to refining the skills of 50 thousand employees from more than 50 government entities, who received more than 800 thousand training badges after completing one million training hours to enhance their readiness with the future skills, including (data and AI skills, new economy skills, cyber security skills, digital skills and productivity and achievement acceleration skills) through a method focusing on enhancing the productivity of employees and qualifying them with the skills necessary for the future to keep pace with the rapid changes in government work.

“Jahiz” is a new model for government work that focuses on raising levels of readiness for the future, by empowering government cadres with the best international future skills. The initiative covers all federal government employees, and focuses on enabling the government work team to keep pace with the requirements of a rapidly changing world and understand new topics and emerging fields, which will have a significant impact on shaping and making the future.

“Jahiz” Digital Platform provides the Federal Government employees with four main sets of skills that include 20 skills for the future. The Platform includes a digital wallet of future skills for each government employee, which represents an inclusive portfolio, linking the employee’s achievement in acquiring skills with job performance. In the Platform, participants receive achievement badges upon completing the requirements of the future skills.

Judges

The Award judges praised the efforts of FAHR, expressing its admiration for the two initiatives, i.e., “Jahiz” and the Entrepreneurship Leave for Self-employment, as they are innovative, serve the efforts of developing human resources and reflect anticipating the future in enhancing employee skills and entrepreneurship, by enabling employees to explore opportunities in the private sector in consistency with broader goals to strengthen the UAE national economy.