Programme Objectives and Scope
The National Wellbeing Strategy 2031 represents the UAE’s institutional commitment to measuring and improving the quality of life of its citizens and residents beyond conventional economic indicators. The programme originated with the appointment of a Minister of State for Happiness and Wellbeing in 2016 and has since evolved into a comprehensive framework encompassing mental health, physical wellness, community cohesion, work-life balance, digital wellbeing, and environmental quality. The strategy requires all federal government entities to incorporate wellbeing outcomes into their policy design and service delivery, shifting the governance paradigm from output-based measurement to outcomes that reflect how people actually experience their interaction with government and society.
Key Targets and KPIs
The programme tracks the UAE’s performance in international wellbeing indices, including the World Happiness Report, the OECD Better Life Index, and the Gallup Global Emotions survey. Specific KPIs include life satisfaction scores, mental health prevalence and treatment access, community engagement levels, physical activity rates, healthy nutrition adoption, work-life balance indicators, and digital wellbeing metrics. Each federal entity is required to measure the wellbeing impact of its services and report through the national wellbeing dashboard. The strategy also tracks social trust levels, sense of belonging, and perceptions of safety and security across different population segments.
Implementation Status and Progress
The programme has mainstreamed wellbeing as a policy consideration across the federal government. The National Survey of Wellbeing is conducted regularly to collect data on life satisfaction, mental health, and quality of life across citizen and resident populations. Mental health services have been expanded, with the UAE investing in specialised facilities and reducing the stigma associated with mental health treatment. Community centres and social cohesion programmes have been launched across multiple emirates. The National Wellbeing Observatory, established to monitor wellbeing trends and inform policy, publishes regular reports and data. Corporate wellbeing programmes have been encouraged through guidelines issued to major employers, and flexible work arrangements have been expanded following the COVID-19 pandemic experience.
Lead and Supporting Institutions
The National Programme for Happiness and Wellbeing, operating under the Prime Minister’s Office, provides strategic coordination. The Ministry of Community Development leads implementation across social cohesion and community engagement workstreams. The Ministry of Health and Prevention manages mental health and physical wellness programmes. The Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation oversees workplace wellbeing standards. Individual emirates have established their own wellbeing programmes — Dubai’s Happiness Agenda and Abu Dhabi’s Quality of Life Strategy complement the federal framework. The Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Centre (now part of the Federal Centre for Government Statistics) supports data collection and analysis.
Relationship to We the UAE 2031 Pillars
The Wellbeing Strategy is the primary programmatic vehicle for the Society Pillar of We the UAE 2031, which prioritises building a cohesive, healthy, and resilient society. The programme’s emphasis on quality of life directly supports the 2031 vision’s aspiration to create an environment where people thrive, not merely prosper economically. The economy pillar benefits from improved workforce productivity and talent retention associated with higher wellbeing levels. The sustainability pillar intersects through environmental quality components, including air quality, green space access, and sustainable urban design that affect physical and mental health.
Funding and Resource Allocation
The wellbeing strategy is funded through a combination of federal budget allocations to the National Programme for Happiness and Wellbeing and the requirement for each federal entity to embed wellbeing outcomes within its existing budget. The Ministry of Health and Prevention allocates funds for mental health service expansion. Emirate-level wellbeing programmes receive funding from local government budgets. The programme’s funding model emphasises mainstreaming rather than standalone expenditure — the objective is to redirect how existing government spending is designed and delivered, rather than to create a large parallel spending programme. Private sector contributions come through corporate wellbeing programmes encouraged by government guidelines.