H.H. Lt. General Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior, today attended the signing of two Memorandums of Understanding, MoU, at the Ministry of Interior.

The first MoU was signed with the Ministry of Education while the second was signed with the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs and the Future, represented by the Emirates Government Service Excellence Programme, at the headquarters of the Cabinet of Ministers in Abu Dhabi, in the presence of Hussain bin Ibrahim Al Hammadi, Minister of Education, and Ohood bint Khalfan Al Roumi, Minister of State for Happiness.

The MoU between the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Interior, represented by the General Command of Civil Defence, aims to promote co-operation and co-ordination between both parties, to provide a safe environment for work and education at Ministry of Education institutions.

The MoU stipulates the necessity of activating, organising and developing ways of co-operation and co-ordination in the areas of safety and fire prevention in all administrative and educational facilities supervised by the Ministry of Education, as well as the implementation of preventive programmes that include timely inspections and raising awareness about safety and prevention procedures among teachers, administrative staff and students.

The MoU was signed by Major-General Jassim Mohammed Al Marzouqi, General Commander of Civil Defence, and Eng. Abdulrahman Mohammed Al Hammadi, Ministry of Education Under-Secretary for Quality and Support Services.

The second MoU between the Emirates Government Service Excellence Programme and the Ministry of Interior, represented by the Customers Happiness Department, aims to initially adopt the happiness in customer centres index, followed by the index of the provision of all types of smart services, to measure the happiness of customers about the services they receive, according to the adopted criteria of the Cabinet of Ministers.

The MoU also aims to promote co-ordination and co-operation between both parties in government services development, training and technical support and the best use of happiness indexes while considering the role of customer participation surveys, with the aim of maintaining and improving the quality of provided services and contributing to institutional performance.

The MoU was signed by Major General Salem Mubarak Al Shamsi, Acting Assistant Under-Secretary of the Ministry for Resources and Support Services, on behalf of the Ministry of Interior, and Hessa Eisa Bu Humaid, Assistant Director-General of Government Services and Leadership at the Prime Minister’s Office in the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs and the Future, on behalf of the Emirates Government Service Excellence Programme.

The signing was attended by Brigadier Mohammad Humaid bin Dalmouj Al Dhaheri, Acting Secretary-General of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, as well as several officers and officials from the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs.

Major General Al Marzouki stressed that the MoU with the Ministry of Education is being implemented under the framework of promoting co-operation and co-ordination with other government authorities, to improve the level of provided services, promote general procedures of safety and prevention, and raise awareness among members of the community.

He also praised the concerted efforts of the Ministry of Education to provide the best educational, healthy and safe environment for students while adding that the MoU aims to promote and advance these efforts, as well as raise the level of mutual co-ordination in facilities safety.

Eng. Al Hammadi stated that the MoU is part of their efforts to improve general safety and protection in schools, with the aim of providing a safe environment for students while benefiting from the expertise of civil defence specialists in promoting a general culture of safety among students, which are central to their academic efforts and a goal of education.

Bu Humaid stressed that the UAE is adopting an exceptional model of strengthening the government’s relationship with customers and focussing on making them happy, reflecting the quality of government services and their ongoing development while making a difference in the lives of people.

She added that signing the MoU with the Ministry of Interior is part of its goal of enhancing the spirit of positivity and happiness in the government services culture and advancing it to a higher level, in line with the directives of the wise leadership to make the UAE government lead internationally in the area of government services by 2020.

Colonel Nasser Khadem Al Kaabi, Director of the Customer Happiness Department at the Ministry of Interior, stated that launching the happiness index reflects the desire of the Ministry of Interior to make their customers happy, by providing a smart system that accurately monitors their level of happiness, which they can use in a quick and simple manner, with the close co-operation of the Emirates Government Service Excellence Programme.

He added that the happiness index is an original and innovative tool for evaluating government performance with regards to the happiness of customers, who are the end user of their services and are most capable of making evaluations. It is also a daily and sustainable survey on the happiness of customers and their opinions, which can immediately receive and gauge results while providing an interactive and timely performance evaluation, to assess the happiness of customers and develop services based on precise scientific analysis, he further added.