DEWA is the first government organisation in the UAE to measure the happiness of children

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has measured the happiness of children who participated in the Reading is Positive Energy exhibition at Zabeel Park, Dubai. This supports the strategic objectives of the UAE, and the directives of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to provide happiness for all segments of society. The directive ensures that all government policies, programmes, and services contribute to building a positive and happy community, and that the government should take priority in creating conditions capable of facilitating happiness for individuals, families, and employees.

The exhibition aims to instil a culture of reading, encourage members of society, and also features different cultural corners. These include the Reading Exhibition corner, Reading Positive Energy Forum, Children’s Knowledge World, Smart Reading Corner, Reading Sensory Wall, Emirati Majlis, and a cultural café. The Children’s Knowledge World Corner features story-telling sessions that involve children and mothers telling stories and learning from each other. The Reading Sensory Wall helps students to write their own stories using their sight, touch, and hearing. The Smart Reading Corner provides the latest smart technologies and devices that help readers and motivates people to read. At the ‘Today’s Children Read for Yesterday’s Children’ programme, children read short stories to young adults.

“HH Sheikh Mohammed Al bin Rashid Al Maktoum has taught us to work hard, to make people happy, and that the government’s responsibility is to achieve the happiness of society as a whole. Measuring the happiness of the children reflects our commitment towards working to achieve the happiness of the community. This supports the UAE Vision 2021, and the Dubai Plan 2021, to transform Dubai into a city of happy, creative, and empowered people,” said HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA.

“We are committed to fulfilling the directives of the leadership, to achieve the happiness of the community. This includes the national happiness and positivity charter, as part of the Cabinet’s commitment through its higher policies, plans, projects and services at all government agencies to establish positivity as a key value to ensure the happiness of individuals, families and society, while instilling positivity as a major value, to help members of society achieve their dreams and ambitions

DEWA realises the importance of investing in the youth, who are the leaders of the future. DEWA’s educational and cultural activities aim to involve the youth in research and instil a culture of teamwork. DEWA’s Engineers of the Future summer camp aims to instil a culture of innovation and creativity among the youth, while providing an educational platform for children to develop their skills among fields including engineering, electricity, mechanics, science and mathematics. The camp also aims to prepare the future generation of innovators, develop the capabilities of the youth, support talent, and share knowledge with the next generations, in adherence with DEWA’s motto, ‘For generations to come,” added Al Tayer.

“We are proud to be the first government organisation in the UAE to measure the happiness of children. This reflects our deep understanding of engaging with younger generations, to ensure a brighter future. This supports DEWA’s strategy to achieve the happiness of the community, and support the youth. DEWA has adopted a strategic objective that is directly-related to making stakeholders happier. DEWA is among the first government organisations to implement this concept. This supports the wise leadership’s pioneering initiatives to make Dubai one of the best cities in the world by developing the infrastructure to promote and attract investments, and focusing on human values among the citizens, residents, and visitors, as DEWA recognises the importance of working to maintain their happiness, and add to their experiences,” said Dr. Yousef Al Akraf, Executive Vice President of Business Support and Human Resources at DEWA.

DEWA is among the first government organisations to implement the Happiness Index initiative, which was launched by HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. DEWA has also launched a number of initiatives to enhance happiness among stakeholders, including restructuring the Employee Relations department and renaming it the Employee Happiness department. DEWA has adopted a strategy to achieve the happiness of its employees. This includes defined strategic objectives and indices, to ensure the implementation of a planned framework. In January 2016, DEWA launched the ‘Employee Happiness Pulse,’ which is a new tool that adheres to the directives of DEWA’s top management, to instantly measure the happiness of its staff.