Under the patronage of Mohammed bin Rashid… honoring the winners of the Arab Government Excellence Award in its fourth session tomorrow

Under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, “may God protect him,” a ceremony honoring the winners of the fourth session of the Arab Government Excellence Award, which was launched by the UAE government in 2019, in partnership with the League of Arab States, will be held tomorrow, Thursday, at the headquarters of the League of Arab States in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, with the strategic goal of making a significant difference in administrative development and governmental institutional excellence at the Arab level, stimulating leadership thought, and celebrating administrative experiences. Successful and inspiring governments in Arab countries.
The ceremony will be held in the presence of the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Arab Government Excellence Award, Mohammed bin Abdullah Al-Gergawi, and the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, along with members of the Board of Trustees of the Award, and representatives of a number of Arab governments.
The ceremony witnesses the honoring of winners in 16 categories, including institutional and individual awards, which reflects the comprehensiveness of the award and its keenness to cover various aspects of government performance, from leadership and management to services and innovation, as the current session witnesses the addition of the award for the best Arab initiative to eliminate bureaucracy.
The Arab Government Excellence Award, which is the first of its kind in the Arab world, and the largest in the Arab world in the field of development, improvement and administrative excellence, has succeeded in creating a comprehensive movement to lead continuous leaps in government development in all its aspects, keeping pace with the transformations in the roles of governments arising from successive global developments, which requires accelerating the adoption of the latest innovations and practices.
The Arab Government Excellence Award includes individual awards and institutional awards, and is divided into 16 categories, after adding the category for the best Arab initiative to zero out bureaucracy during the current session. The individual awards include categories for the best Arab minister, the best Arab governor, the best Arab governor, the best general manager of an Arab body or institution, the best municipal director in Arab cities, the best Arab government employee, and the best Arab female government employee.
As for the institutional awards, they include categories for the best Arab ministry, the best Arab government body or institution, the best initiative to develop government work, the best Arab government project to empower youth, the best Arab government project to develop education, the best Arab government project to develop the health sector, the best Arab government project to develop infrastructure, the best Arab government project for community development, and the best smart Arab government application.
The diversity of the award categories confirms its belief in the comprehensiveness and integration of the system of excellence and achievement, as the categories were carefully chosen to target the main aspects of the processes of developing and reforming government work in various sectors in order to be compatible with the needs of the Arab citizen at the present time, which added a qualitative advantage to the efforts to explore the potential capabilities of each country and develop strategies and action plans based on the capabilities that were discovered.
The addition of a new category entitled “Best Arab Initiative to Zero Bureaucracy” comes within the current cycle of the award with the aim of stimulating the building of agile and flexible government capabilities away from complex procedures, in addition to enhancing Arab governments’ benefit from the UAE’s experience in the “Zero Government Bureaucracy” program, which it launched two years ago, and which succeeded in shortening more than 70% of the time for providing services.
The process of evaluating entries in the award is subject to 3 levels, including a jury, a technical team, and teams of evaluators, with the UAE excluded from participation, as this mechanism aims to achieve standards of transparency, neutrality, integrity, and accuracy in the various stages of evaluation.
The number of entries received by the Arab Government Excellence Award during 4 cycles reached 40,690 entries, with the number of entries in the fourth edition reaching 14,390 Arab entries, up from 5,000 Arab entries in the first cycle, 8,300 entries in the second cycle, and 13,000 entries in the third cycle.
During its four sessions, the award also witnessed the reception of 17,470 nomination applications, as the current session received more than 6,670 nomination applications, all of which represent inspiring Arab models that were able to provide innovative solutions to develop government work in many Arab countries, as this number jumped more than 4 times the first session in which nomination applications reached 1,500 applications, while in the second session it reached 4,100 nomination applications, and in the third session 5,200 applications.
In each session, the award witnesses a series of in-person and virtual workshops and seminars, which the award implements in partnership with a number of Arab governments to transfer advanced expertise and build the professional capabilities of government cadres.
These events focus on disseminating knowledge of quality and excellence in government work, and training participants on the latest practices that improve individual performance and the performance of public institutions and accelerate institutional transformation paths.

The workshops and seminars contribute to raising the efficiency of the participants and refining their practical skills, which enhances the quality of government agencies’ participation in the award and establishes a knowledge base applicable on the ground, as the workshops carry strategic objectives about the importance of measuring performance, adopting objective standards for excellence, and employing innovation to improve government services and maximize their impact on society.
Over the course of its four sessions, the award organized, in cooperation with Arab governments, 218 introductory seminars in which more than 42,500 officials and employees from most Arab countries participated. The activities of the current session included the organization of more than 66 introductory seminars, in which the award’s management team and experts in the fields of quality and institutional excellence participated, with the active presence of more than 16,200 employees and government officials from 21 Arab countries. This broad participation reflected a great desire for scientific and practical exchange of the best expertise and experiences between… Arab government institutions.
The programs included three main themes of institutional excellence: functional excellence, professional project management, and leadership in providing government services.
The Leadership in Government Services workshop received a wide response, which confirms that it is a starting point for implementing innovative ideas that contribute to improving customer experience and enhancing the efficiency of government performance.
The first session of the award witnessed the organization of about 50 introductory seminars, in which more than a thousand officials and employees participated. The second session witnessed 50 seminars with the participation of more than 10,400 employees and officials in the government sector from most Arab countries. The third session witnessed the organization of 52 seminars in which 14,900 officials and employees participated.
During its previous three sessions, the award honored 65 winners from leaders, institutions, initiatives and inspiring entrepreneurial models. In its first session, it honored 21 winners, 6 of whom were from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 5 from the Kingdom of Bahrain, 4 from the Arab Republic of Egypt, 4 from the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, and one each from the State of Kuwait and the Sultanate of Oman.
In its second session, it honored 21 winners, 6 of whom were from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 3 from the Kingdom of Bahrain, 3 from the Arab Republic of Egypt, 2 from each of: the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the Sultanate of Oman, and the Republic of Iraq, and one from each of: the Republic of Tunisia, the State of Palestine, and the Kingdom of Morocco.
In the third session, 23 winners of pioneering Arab models were honored, 4 from each of: the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Arab Republic of Egypt, and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, 3 from the Kingdom of Bahrain, 2 from each of: the Sultanate of Oman, the Kingdom of Morocco, and the Republic of Iraq, and one from each of: the State of Qatar, and the Islamic Republic of Mauritania.
The Arab Government Excellence Award works according to an integrated government system based on the best international practices in the field of government work to encourage various government agencies and government employees in the Arab world to adopt innovation, excellence and efficiency to achieve a positive impact in improving the quality of life of Arab societies.
The philosophy of the Arab Government Excellence Award is based on consolidating modern concepts of excellence as a foundation for the future and ambitious vision of governments and their flexible and proactive approach, renewed thinking, radical innovation and the integration of internal capabilities based on learning and development to achieve a qualitative addition in implementing tasks and providing services and enhancing expanded partnership, leading to sustainable leadership results in their institutional excellence, levels of general performance and competitive performance at the international level.
The award represents an Arab platform for exchanging best practices and successful government experiences at the level of various government sectors, in recognition of the distinguished efforts in support of ambitious visions in the Arab region and in a way that supports everyone’s benefit from them.
The Arab Government Excellence Award has established an effective role as a platform for spreading the culture of institutional excellence in the Arab countries, as it encourages the adoption of a pioneering approach in Arab governments to raise the efficiency of performance, implement goals and strategies, and build the basic capabilities necessary to achieve the vision of the government/state.
The award works to establish a positive leadership thought that seeks to embrace excellence in Arab government agencies, so that the transformative thought is based on an understanding of current and future capabilities and capabilities, which helps achieve outstanding performance and supports the principles of advanced government capable of meeting the requirements and expectations of its citizens.

The award motivates various government agencies to work to improve overall performance and continuous development in the performance of Arab government agencies in a way that supports the achievement of the desired benefits for all concerned and the sustainability of results and outputs that have a positive impact on society.