Commenting on this, His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, said: “The UAE's most important investment is directed to the service of its human capital. The national human resources have been at the top of our leaderships’ priority, given that they are the driving force of sustainable development and accomplishments envisaged by the wise leadership of the UAE, led His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, and His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces”.

H.H added: "Investing in people is the most important achievement of the UAE, and its support of human resources is ongoing since the era of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan (May Allah rest his soul in peace), providing them with all elements of well-being, success, excellence, leadership and competitiveness, and betting on them to place the UAE among the world’s advanced countries".

Sheikh Mansour praised the efficiency of human resources systems and legislation in the Federal Government, which is considered an example of the best international practices, being based on research and study taking into account the needs of different generations. He stressed the crucial role played by young people in achieving the UAE Vision 2021 and its national agenda, and underlined the importance of investment in them, and motivating them to pursue scientific research leading to solutions that in line with shaping the future of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and serve the UAE’s aspirations.

HE Dr. Abdulrahman Al Awar, Director General of the Authority, lauded the generous patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the Award, which reflects his keenness to support innovative government initiatives and projects that embody the UAE’s relentless efforts to develop its human capital. He added that the His Highness’s patronage will add further impetus to the Award, which is one of the innovative strategic initiatives of the Authority, enrich the human resources strategy in the Federal Government, contribute to studying the reality of human resources, shaping its future, as well as help identify the most important challenges facing them in the work environment.

“We need to propose solutions that will overcome these challenges, to enhance the role of human resources and create happy work environment towards realizing the aspirations of the UAE's wise leadership”, he said.

Al-Awar explained that the scope of participation in the Award extends to all government and private universities and higher education institutions across the UAE. He called on all concerned students and academics in those universities to respond positively to the Award, stressing that it is aimed at strengthening the role of young people in developing government work and establishing a culture of innovation by embracing  research and modern technology, as well as encouraging specialized scientific research and harnessing the outcomes  output to empower the national human capital.

The Director General of the Authority stressed that FAHR Award for the best scientific research in the field of human resources aims to motivate the youth to continue their research initiatives, study the reality of work and challenges involved. In addition, the Award targets highlighting the crucial role of human resources in achieving excellence and a culture of productivity, as well the important contribution of universities - teachers and students - in improving human resources experience.

It should be noted that the Authority had organized a workshop in Dubai, in the presence of the Director General, Dr. Abdulrahman Al Awar, and representatives of 30 accredited universities and institutions in UAE public and private sectors. The workshop saw a presentation of the Award, along with its objectives, criteria, target groups, management mechanisms and participation conditions. The committee also formed an independent arbitration committee composed of specialists in the field of human resources to evaluate the research files.

Mansour bin Zayed Award winners will receive financial and in-kind rewards for the best researches related to the future of human capital in the UAE which produce innovative proposals and initiatives that can be adopted and implemented. The Award targets undergraduate students in their third year and above, Master’s students and faculty members at all accredited universities across the UAE

The Authority will determine at each Award round, a number of topics that are relevant to the future of human capital that researches submitted should be abided by.

The proposed research areas the Award include: institutions of the future; the role of human resources departments; skills and qualifications required for future jobs; transition of future governments from service providers to legislative and supervisory role; digital human resources, career guidance; talent management, employee well-being and happy work environments and productivity and efficiency.

Research files will be subject to six evaluation criteria: following the basic principles of scientific research, clarity of approach and methods used to meet the challenges of research work, value-added results from the research presented, innovative ideas and proposals presented in the research. It is proposed to publish a summary of winning researches in the semi-annual HR Echo Magazine issued by the Authority in Arabic and English.