Minister of State for Happiness and Wellbeing () is a Minister of State in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

, which oversees the UAE plans, programs and policies to achieve a happier society. The responsibility of this office is to "align and drive government policy to create social good and satisfaction."

Ministers

On 10 February 2016, UAE Prime Minister Sheikh

Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum (; born 15 July 1949) is an Emirati politician and royal who is the current ruler of Dubai, and serves as the Vice President of the United Arab Emirates, vice president and Prime Minister of the United Arab ...

announced, through his

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

account, the appointment of Her Excellency

Ohoud Al Roumi Ohood bint Khalfan Al Roumi is an Emirati politician who is the Minister of State for Government Development and Future. She is also Chairwoman of the Federal Authority for Government Human Resources (FAHR). Education Al Roumi holds an Exec ...

- whose full name is Ohood bint Khalfan Al Roumi - as the country's first Minister for State of Happiness.^{/sup> The announcement was made during Dubai's annual World Government Summit

The World Governments Summit is an annual event since 2013, held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It brings together leaders in government for a global dialogue with a focus on issues of futurism, technology and innovation. The summit acts as a ...
.

Programs and Initiatives

In its first year (2016), as part of the overall National Happiness and Positivity Program, the Minister of State for Happiness launched a number of programs and initiatives. Some of these are:

*Chief Happiness and Positivity Officer Program (private sector)
*Chief Happiness and Positivity Officer Program (government)
*Happy and Positive Offices
*Customer Happiness Formula
*Happiness and Positivity Councils
*Happiness and Positivity Hours (federal government)
*Happiness and Positivity Heroes Medal
*Customer Happiness Employees
*Customer Happiness Centres
*UAE Declaration of Happiness and Positivity

Chief Happiness and Positivity Officer Program

In July 2016, the Minister of State for Happiness publicly announced the selection of 60 individuals, representing federal and local government entities, as the original cohort of the Chief Happiness and Positivity Program.

To learn the knowledge and develop the skills necessary to realize the objectives of the Chief Happiness and Positivity Officer Program, the selected candidates attend the Greater Good Science Center
The Greater Good Science Center (GGSC) is a research center located at the University of California, Berkeley.
Introduction
The center was founded by Dacher Keltner in 2001, with a donation from UC Berkeley alumni Thomas and Ruth Hornaday follo ...
of the University of California, Berkeley

The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
and the Oxford Mindfulness Centre of the University of Oxford

The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...
, two of several international partners enlisted by the UAE government to ensure the success of its Program.

The Program consists of five pillars: the science of happiness and positivity, mindfulness, leading a happy team, happiness and policies in government work, and measuring happiness.

Similar Ministries in the World

The Minister of State for Happiness in the UAE was not the first to be named that, there are a number of similar ministries in the world.

* The Ministry of Happiness in Bhutan

Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, in the Eastern Himalayas between China to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of , ...
in 1972, the ministry was established and considered an indicator of happiness and economic development based on Buddhist

Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
principles.
* The Ministry of Yoga in India

India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
was established in 2014, by the Indian Prime Minister to promote traditional and yoga

Yoga (UK: , US: ; 'yoga' ; ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines that originated with its own philosophy in ancient India, aimed at controlling body and mind to attain various salvation goals, as pra ...
. Sherpad Naik, Minister of Culture and Tourism, was appointed Minister of this ministry

See also

* Ons Jabeur

Ons Jabeur (born 28 August 1994) is a Tunisian professional tennis player. She has a career-high singles ranking by the WTA of No. 2, achieved on 27 June 2022, making her the highest-ranked African and Arab tennis player in WTA and ATP ranking ...
, Tunisian professional tennis player nicknamed "Minister of Happiness" in her country
* Ministry of Tolerance

The Ministry of Tolerance and Coexistence (; previously the Ministry of Tolerance from 2016 to 2022) is a government ministry in the United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, ...
, also in the UAE

References

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Government of the United Arab Emirates}