The UAE has been constantly raising the bar when it comes to its performance in several fields, be it in education, health or the environment. In its latest manifestation of top-quality feats, it has hit the peak among the Middle East and North Africa countries and ranked 21st globally on the Corruption Perceptions Index for 2020 issued by Transparency International, to be among the most transparent and honest countries in the world. It has notched 71 points on the general anti-corruption index.

The UAE surpassed countries such as France, the United States, Portugal, Cyprus, Poland, Croatia and South Korea.

The index, which ranks 180 countries and territories in line with perceived levels of public sector corruption according to experts and the business community, uses a scale from zero to 100, with zero being the most corrupt and 100 the most honest.  This comes at a time when most countries have made little or no progress in tackling corruption in nearly a decade, more than two-thirds of countries scored less than 50 points. The index shows that corruption undermines the global health response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The analysis also reveals that countries that do well on the index are investing more in healthcare.

Talking of health, the UAE has fared in that sector extremely well also. Recently, the Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) announced the results of the UAE’s 1st National Health Account (NHA) 2017, which was carried out in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and relevant health and government authorities.

According to the NHA, the UAE has topped the Gulf, Arab and Eastern Mediterranean countries in terms of the Current Health Expenditure per Capita (CHE-pc). The results also showed that the country’s health financing system is sustainable, with the mandatory spending reaching 83 per cent of the total spending on healthcare.

The government is pulling out all stops to keep the coronavirus in check, by taking industrial-strength preventive measures. Sharjah is even planning a field hospital for virus patients.

 The UAE concluded 2020 by achieving global leadership in telecom sector quality and evolution, where the country maintained the first place in the Arab region and regionally, and came second globally for the second consecutive year in “Use of telecommunications/ICTs”, which measures the efficiency and evolution of the telecommunications sector in countries around the world as part of the Global Competitiveness Report issued by the World Economic Forum. The UAE also came up trumps in the global competitiveness rankings for 2020 in eight environmental indicators, while also ranking first in the Mena region in 19 of them. Its stellar standing in global environmental rankings is the direct outcome of the continuing support and guidance of the country’s wise leadership, its effective cooperation with federal and local government entities, and the productive partnerships with the private sector and international organisations specialising in environmental work.

The UAE is on song in other areas too. It has jumped ten spots on the list of most competitive countries in the world during four years, acquiring 5th place in 2019 compared to the 15th spot in 2016, according to the annual World Competitiveness Ranking 2019 published by the IMD Business School.

The wellbeing and satisfaction of the residents in the country, including its nationals, is the prime concern of the leadership.  A happy nation is a bellwether of all-round prosperity and excellent productivity. The UAE has scored here too. Last year, it maintained its first place in the Arab world for the sixth consecutive year, according to the latest edition of the World Happiness Report for 2020. The global report was unveiled in conjunction with the International Day of Happiness.

How much importance it accords to this sector is evident from the fact that there is a Minister for Happiness. And then some —there is also a Minister for Tolerance.