As part of its efforts to spread the culture of political participation in the community and to raise awareness of the upcoming Federal National Council elections, the Ministry of State for Federal National Council Affairs (MFNCA) organised its second lecture in the fifth edition of its Neighbourhood Councils initiative.

Titled "Empowerment Programme and increasing Political Participation in the Federal National Council Elections", the activity took place at Al Khawaneej Majlis in Dubai on Thursday, 10th March, 2022.

Discussing the initiative, Sami Mohammed bin Adi, Assistant Under-Secretary for the Support Services Sector at MFNCA, said, "Empowering the citizenry is a primary concern of the UAE leadership, which fully understands that the comprehensive development process requires that all elements of society interact with the country’s vibrant political programme. The active participation of citizens in the Federal National Council elections is an embodiment of this objective."

Huraiz Al-Murr bin Huraiz, Executive Director of the Development and Social Care Sector at the Community Development Authority, said, "The neighbourhood councils play an instrumental role in enhancing community awareness of vital issues that affect national development. With this in mind, we are delighted to host the ministry’s lectures, held to expand political participation in the FNC's neighbourhood council elections in the Emirate of Dubai."

The lecture saw Dr. Ahmed Al-Mansoori, Specialist in Law and International Relations, explain the importance of community members becoming politically active by participating in local elections. Advising the audience members of their responsibilities and duties towards the UAE’s parliamentary work, he highlighted that thanks to the vision of its wise leadership the country has established itself as a role model in upgrading all sectors by successfully capitalising on the strengths of its people. He said that this strategy had elevated the country to the top positions across many important global indexes and ratings.

Dr Al-Mansoori said, "The wise leadership of the UAE persistently advances the path of development in all fields. The speech of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan on the occasion of the 34th National Day in 2005 outlined the Empowerment Programme and highlighted how the approach of political participation of the citizenry was rooted in the UAE’s system of government."

He added that the Empowerment Programme was the basis of a comprehensive national action plan to enhance the political participation of UAE citizens in the country’s political life. The leadership of the UAE is working to enhance political participation in Emirati society and to urge citizens to become actively engaged in the decision-making process.

In conclusion, Al-Mansoori confirmed that the FNC elections in their previous four tours saw broad participation from Emiratis, with results having seen qualitative transformations that strengthened the UAE at the regional and global levels.