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UAE establishes new office to recognise and support country’s frontline workers

The Frontline Heroes Office will grant rewards, present certificates of appreciation, and nominate some to receive honorary medals too

by Varun Godinho

July 9, 2020

UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan has issued a new Federal Decree No. 95 of 2020 to establish a Frontline Heroes Office which will acknowledge the work and sacrifices made by frontline staff while carrying out their duties in the country.

The new organisation aims to raise awareness of the key role played by these workers during crises and emergencies, while also looking after their needs and addressing their priorities.

It will grant rewards, present certificates of appreciation, and nominate some to receive honorary medals too.

The Frontline Heroes Office will be chaired by Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and will have financial and administrative independence.

It will be headquartered in Abu Dhabi, although the chairman may choose to set up branches in other parts of the country.

The organisation’s mandate extends to defining frontline workers and establishing the criteria used to identify them.

The presidential decree also commissioned relevant entities to follow the directives of the chairman and build a database of the frontline workers by establishing an online registry interlinking the relevant federal, local or private bodies, reported news agency WAM.

Earlier this year as the pandemic accelerated, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, shared a video expressing his gratitude to the country’s healthcare workers.

Read: Watch: Sheikh Mohammed shows appreciation for UAE’s healthcare workers

“I invite everyone to thank them and praise and appreciate them for their continuous efforts day and night. Doctors, nurses, paramedics and administrators in our medical sector in the country…Thank you,” he tweeted at the time.

In May, Sheikh Mohammed also decided to award a 10-year Gold Card residency visas to select doctors of the Dubai Health Authority who were providing direct medical services to Covid-19 patients as a “sign of thanks and appreciation from His Highness to the teams working in the frontline to ensure community safety.”