Abu Dhabi, October 27, 2021 – The Ministry of State for Federal National Council Affairs (MFNCA) has set a communication plan to interact with all segments of society as part of its efforts to promote a culture of political participation, including programmes to raise awareness and introduce the community to parliamentary work and achievements in the UAE.
Over its 15-year journey, the MFNCA launched a host of innovative initiatives with one comprehensive vision to promote active participation among Emirati citizens. The Ministry has held 165 lectures and workshops that drew 28,428 participants, in addition to 9 forums to raise political awareness among university students with a total 7,278 attending the sessions.
The Ministry considers strengthening the culture of political participation to be a strategic objective. The MFNCA has been working to achieve that goal since its establishment, rolling out a series of awareness programmes that target all segments of the community and introduce them to the Political Empowerment Programme launched by UAE President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan in 2005.
The programmes also aim to raise awareness about parliamentary practices in the UAE, the Federal National Council (FNC) elections, and the FNC’s mandate and accomplishments in service of the country and its citizens. These initiatives and programmes have a wide appeal, reaching 3 million users on social media.
On the same note, the MFNCA launched several innovative initiatives, including: the Electoral Process Journey initiative, which aims to familiarise the community with the organisational stages of FNC elections; Online Training Workshop on Parliamentary Practices in the UAE; Test Your Knowledge of Parliament, which uses modern technologies to enhance political awareness, the application of Zayed and political participation; and the ‘You Are in the Federal National Council’ virtual reality (VR) initiative, which allows participants to virtually attend the FNC sessions.
Also on the list is the MFNCA official website, which offers extensive information about all aspect of parliamentary work in the UAE, in addition to the Political Participation magazine, the yearly online newsletter ‘Tamkeen’, and a series of corporate education newsletters. The Ministry launched landmark knowledge initiatives as well, optimising the use of its social media platforms. These include Constitutional Culture, Electoral Culture, and A Glossary of Parliamentary Terms.
The Ministry of State for Federal National Council Affairs is committed to continuously developing its initiatives that target various segments of the community, including a visiting programme that aims to educate employees at government entities (both federal and local) about the FNC by allowing them to attend its sessions.
The MFNCA also organises various events, lectures, and workshops that have developed into prominent platforms for knowledge and awareness. Most notable among these are the Political Awareness Forum for University Students; the Electoral Culture Virtual Majlis; Innovation Labs; regular Youth Circles organised by the MFNCA in collaboration with the Federal Youth Authority to listen to young people’s views and suggestions, and then use them to develop the Ministry’s operations and FNC elections processes.