The United Arab Emirates on Wednesday appointed women to the newly created posts of state ministers for happiness and tolerance, and a 22-year-old female for youth affairs.
Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum named eight women as he revealed his latest cabinet line-up of 29 ministers in a series of tweets.
Ohoud al-Roumi, who serves as director of the council of ministers' office, was appointed "minister of state for happiness". She will also keep her former post.
"Happiness is not just a wish in our country. There will be plans, projects, programmes and indices. It will be part of the job of all ministries," tweeted Sheikh Mohammed, who is also the ruler of Dubai.
The new post "will align and drive government policy to create social good and satisfaction," he said earlier.
Shamma al-Mazroui, 22, was appointed state minister for youth, while Lubna al-Qassimi, a veteran minister of international cooperation and development, was handed the new post of state minister for tolerance.
"The post of Minister of State for Tolerance has been created to promote tolerance as a fundamental value in UAE society," Sheikh Mohammed wrote when he announced the reshuffle earlier this week.
The cabinet has eight new ministers, including five women, with an average age of 38, WAM state news agency said.
Sheikh Mohammed described the cabinet shake-up as the "largest structural change in the history of our federal government," merging ministries and appointing several state ministers.
The move could be seen as an attempt to cut expenditure as Gulf oil-exporters struggle to adapt to the sharp drop in their revenues after crude prices nosedived to record low levels.
An oil-rich federation of seven Gulf sheikhdoms, the United Arab Emirates is considered a safe haven spared in the wave of Arab Spring uprisings that hit the region.
Nascent democracy
Last year its rulers sought to widen the country's nascent democratic credentials with about a quarter of its one million citizens given the right to vote.
Eighty-seven of the 330 candidates were women, who play a much larger role in public life in the UAE than in neighbouring Saudi Arabia.
But the authorities have been deeply cautious and in 2014 introduced sweeping new counterterrorism legislation that rights groups have criticised as paving the way for a crackdown on dissent of all sorts.
Citizens account for a small minority of the UAE's population of nine million which is overwhelmingly made up of foreign workers.
The female ministers include also Noura al-Kaabi, as Minister of State for the Federal National Council, or parliament, Jamila al-Muhairi, as Minister of State for Education, and Najla al-Awar as Minister of Community Development.
Reem al-Hashimi was moved to the post of State Minister for International Cooperation Affairs, while Maitha Alshamsi kept her post as a state minister.
Several key ministries remained in the hands of members of the ruling families.
Sheikh Saif bin zayed al-Nahyan, a son of the late founder of the UAE and a member of Abu Dhabi's ruling family, has kept the portfolio of interior.
His brother Sheikh Abdullah stayed at the helm of the ministry of foreign affairs, now merged with the portfolio of international cooperation, while his other brother Sheikh Mansour remains vice prime minister and minister of presidential affairs.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid himself kept hold of the defence portfolio and his brother Sheikh Hamdan stayed as minister of finance.
Oil Minister Suhail al-Mazroui remained in office.
AFP
Fri Feb 12 2016
shows Ohoud al-Roumi, who was appointed as the United Arab Emirates' new state minister for happiness. - AFP pic
Pantau Agenda Reformasi: Penstrukturan akaun & pengenalan akaun 3 KWSP
Ikuti kupasan penganalisis ekonomi Pusat Pengajian Siswazah Perniagaan, Universiti Tun Abdul Razak (UNIRAZAK), Prof. Emeritus Barjoyai Bardai mengenai penstrukturan akaun KWSP & pengenalan akaun 3.
Pihak dikaitkan dalam laporan berkaitan lesen kasino perlu ambil tindakan - PM Anwar
Laporan yang memetik satu sumber itu berkata perbincangan mengenai pemberian lesen itu masih di peringkat awal.
Freedom Flotilla to Gaza: 'Berhadapan tekanan Israel, FCC tiada istilah putus asa'
Pemeriksaan kapal penumpang, Akdeniz (Mediterranean) yang terlibat dalam misi Break The Siege Freedom Flotilla to Gaza dilaporkan sedang berjalan.
Niaga AWANI: Airasia Group bakal disenaraikan di Bursa Malaysia pada September - Tony Fernandes
AirAsia Group Sdn Bhd (AAG) bakal disenaraikan di Bursa Malaysia pada September, mengambil alih status penyenaraian AirAsia X Bhd, kata Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif Capital A Bhd Tan Sri Tony Fernandes.fernandes, bursa Malaysia.
#NiagaAWANI
#NiagaAWANI
Niaga AWANI: Bekas CEO 7-Eleven, Hishammudin Hasan dilantik terajui Al-Ikhsan
Al-Ikhsan Sports Sdn Bhd, firma swasta dengan 35% pegangan milik
Ekuiti Nasional Bhd (Ekuinas) telah melantik Datuk Hishammudin Hasan sebagai ketua pegawai eksekutif (CEO) baharunya berkuat kuasa 17 April 2024.
#NiagaAWANI
Ekuiti Nasional Bhd (Ekuinas) telah melantik Datuk Hishammudin Hasan sebagai ketua pegawai eksekutif (CEO) baharunya berkuat kuasa 17 April 2024.
#NiagaAWANI
Niaga AWANI: MOT, KHAZANAH, MAG perlu perkukuh tadbir urus MAB
Jelas Perdana Menteri, pengurusan syarikat penerbangan yang baik juga akan memberi manfaat kepada kakitangan melalui gaji yang setimpal dengan perkhidmatan mereka.
#NiagaAWANI
#NiagaAWANI
Niaga AWANI: Vincent Tan tak terbabit rundingan lesen kasino Forest City
Berjaya Corp Bhd (BCorp) menafikan laporan yang mengaitkan Pengasasnya, Tan Sri Vincent Tan terbabit dalam rundingan berkaitan lesen kasino di Forest City, Johor.
#NiagaAWANI
#NiagaAWANI
Niaga AWANI: Kadar antara bank jangka pendek ditutup kukuh susulan operasi BNM
Kadar antara bank jangka pendek ditutup kukuh pada Jumaat susulan operasi Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) menyerap lebihan mudah tunai daripada sistem kewangan.
#NiagaAWANI
#NiagaAWANI
Niaga AWANI: IHPR meningkat 1.6 peratus pada Mac 2024
Indeks Harga Pengeluar Malaysia yang mengukur perubahan harga barangan di peringkat pengeluar, meningkat 1.6 peratus pada Mac 2024 berbanding 0.3 peratus pada Februari 2024, menurut Jabatan Perangkaan Malaysia (DOSM).
#NiagaAWANI
#NiagaAWANI
Tiada kasino akan beroperasi di Johor - Onn Hafiz
Onn Hafiz berkata khabar angin yang tular itu berunsur sabotaj dan berniat jahat untuk mencemar imej Forest City dan Johor secara keseluruhannya.