Golden Jubilee Committee plans UAE's 50th anniversary celebrations

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is in the midst of a very important year for the country. It is the 50th anniversary of the creation of the Emirati state and everything is already planned for such a great celebration. 

UAE's President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan has declared 2021 “The Year 50”, in the UAE, as the nation celebrates its milestone Golden Jubilee. “The Year 50” officially starts on April 6, 2021 and lasts until March 31, 2022.

The declaration is coupled with the announcement of year-long initiatives, activities, and grand celebrations that will be governed by the UAE Golden Jubilee Committee under the chairmanship of Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, with Sheikha Mariam bint Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan as Deputy Chairwoman. 

The aim of the planned activities is to spread the festive spirit to involve the entire population in the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Emirati homeland. With an appeal to all UAE citizens to contemplate the values and achievements of the past in recognition of the nation's Founding Fathers.

A country that has evolved a great deal in the last 50 years to be at the forefront of the world in various fields. It is worth highlighting, for example, the great economic progress achieved by a country that has greatly developed national infrastructures and services, above all, supported by the oil sector. Recently, however, it has embarked on a strategy of economic diversification to boost other sectors, such as tourism and technology, so that it is no longer dependent on oil exclusively for financial matters. 

In this sense, the UAE's space programme is noteworthy, as it has even sent the so-called 'Hope' mission to Mars to explore the Red Planet.

Also remarkable is the major role played in international cooperation to combat the current scourge of the coronavirus pandemic, through the shipment of thousands of tons of equipment to dozens of countries around the world to support the health professionals of these nations and through the development of a logistics platform for the storage and shipment of vaccines around the globe, such as The Hope Consortium.

The main challenge now is inspiring the youth to have their vision about the ambitions of the next 50 years, while supporting them to make quality national achievements in furtherance of The March of Development, Progress and Prosperity.

Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed spoke of the importance of this event, as quoted by the official Emirati news agency WAM: "The Year 50 represents a historic defining moment in our journey that started immediately after the declaration of the UAE’s union in 1971. It’s an acknowledgement of the resolute will and strong determination our Founding Fathers had while building up their nation. It also comes in recognition of the sincere efforts made by our citizens for our nation to be what we are seeing today as one of the best growing and fastest developing countries in the world.”

He valued the efforts made by other foreign nationals who have shared with Emirati citizens the same journey and the efforts to build this young nation. “The Year 50 is an opportunity to contemplate the achievements made over 50 years at a time we are gearing up for the next journey,” he added.

The celebration includes a series of initiatives to contemplate the revered history, noble values and unique achievements of the UAE. These initiatives help to mark the upcoming centenary journey ahead.

“We are living in a rapidly changing world. Amid this change, there are opportunities up for grabs to drive innovation and creativity. Therefore, we’ll have to double efforts to generate novel ideas, and quality initiatives to preserve our heritage and values and protect the cultural diversity of our society. As such, these initiatives should contribute to creating a better tomorrow with a brighter future for our nation,” said Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed.

This comes just in a year that is also important for the UAE as it hosts the Dubai World Expo 2020, which will bring together 200 countries to participate in the first World Expo to be held in the MEASA (Middle East, Africa and South Asia) area. The world's fair will run from 1 October 2021 to 31 March 2022 after it was postponed from last year due to the global impact of the coronavirus health crisis. This global conclave will bring together more than 200 countries to explore new ideas, form new connections and collectively address some of the biggest global challenges, in keeping with the Expo Dubai 2020 theme of 'Connecting Minds, Creating the Future', all aimed at fostering worldwide cooperation to address and solve global challenges by promoting the development of the most innovative technologies. Everything will revolve around the three main pillars of the world's fair: Sustainability, Opportunity and Mobility.