Mohammed bin Rashid issues a law regarding the Community Development Authority in Dubai

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister, may God protect him, in his capacity as Ruler of the Emirate of Dubai, issued Law No. (12) of 2026 regarding the Community Development Authority in Dubai.

The law specifies the authority’s objectives in organizing, developing and advancing the social sector in the Emirate of Dubai, in a way that contributes to achieving sustainable community development, improving the quality of social services in the emirate, organizing the provision of these services, providing them to different segments of society, ensuring the protection of the groups most vulnerable to harm, contributing to their integration into society, achieving social and financial empowerment for citizens in Dubai, and making the emirate the best place to live and work, in addition to contributing to achieving cohesion. Social interactions between members of society and its components, and strengthening and encouraging components of society to participate and assume social responsibility.

Authority’s powers

The law also specifies the competencies and tasks of the Community Development Authority as the government agency responsible for organizing, developing and monitoring the social sector in the emirate. Its most prominent tasks include: preparing and developing strategic plans and social policies related to achieving sustainable community development and developing the social sector, proposing legislation related to community development and organizing and developing the social sector in the emirate.

The authority’s powers also include licensing public benefit institutions in accordance with applicable legislation, monitoring and supervising them, regulating and licensing those practicing social professions, issuing the necessary permits to social service providers, regulating volunteer work in the emirate, ensuring the availability of social services for individuals and families, and social and financial empowerment for the most vulnerable groups of citizens and their families.

According to the law, the Community Development Authority in Dubai is responsible for establishing and developing an integrated system to protect the groups most vulnerable to harm, especially children and people with disabilities, and developing programs and plans to enhance social and family cohesion and community participation, establishing community centers and neighborhood councils, conducting social research and studies, and building partnerships with the private sector, public benefit institutions and government agencies in a way that contributes to the comprehensiveness and integration of social services and enhancing their effectiveness and efficiency.

The law also stipulates that the Authority shall have a Director-General, who shall be appointed by decree issued by His Highness the Ruler of Dubai, provided that the Director-General shall undertake the task of supervising the Authority and taking the necessary measures to achieve its objectives and enable it to exercise the powers assigned to it.

Caring for minors, incapacitated persons and those lacking capacity

The law deals with regulating the care of minors, incompetents, and those lacking capacity, as the Community Development Authority in Dubai is considered the competent government authority in the emirate in everything related to providing social services to them, in accordance with a decision issued by the judicial authorities or the competent authorities. The authority’s tasks include taking the necessary procedures and measures to follow up on the minor’s living situation, verifying that he is receiving care and meeting his living, social, health, educational and recreational needs in a way that achieves his best interest, verifying that incapacitated and incapacitated persons receive the necessary care and protection for them, including alternative care, whether family care or institutional care, representing minors, incapacitated persons and incapacitated persons in the field of protection and care before governmental and non-governmental agencies and competent judicial authorities, and providing protection. They are protected from any illegal practices to which they may be exposed, in addition to placing those whom the Authority takes care of in one of the social or health care homes in accordance with the conditions and regulations approved in this regard.

Low-income people

The law deals with regulating the affairs of low-income people, as the Community Development Authority, in accordance with the standards approved by the Chairman of the Executive Council of the Emirate of Dubai, is responsible for defining and specifying the category of low-income people, for the purposes of carrying out the powers assigned to it under this law. It is also responsible for conducting a periodic review of low-income standards in light of economic and social indicators, and submitting appropriate recommendations regarding them to the Executive Council for approval.

Social Observatory

The law also stipulates the establishment of a social observatory within the organizational structure of the Authority, in cooperation and coordination with the competent authorities, to study various social phenomena in the Emirate of Dubai, collect data about them, predict them, work on early intervention and confront negative phenomena, and prevent and limit their effects on society. The Social Observatory undertakes to study and analyze discovered social phenomena, find out their causes, and measure their impact on society, in addition to developing a system to build a social database that includes all segments of society, especially those most vulnerable to harm, while the competent authorities are committed to providing the necessary data and information to enable the Authority to establish and manage the Social Observatory and achieve the goals for which it was established.

Unified system

The law also stipulates the establishment of a unified system for managing social and humanitarian cases that need social services at the level of the Emirate of Dubai, in coordination with the competent authorities, to ensure the integration and comprehensiveness of the social services provided for these cases. Through the unified system, the Authority undertakes to study and evaluate social and humanitarian cases that need social services and follow up on their affairs, in coordination with the competent authorities and providers of these services, to ensure that the owners of these cases receive the social services they need and are socially empowered.

The law obligates local government agencies that provide services of a social nature to use the unified system, and to provide the necessary electronic connectivity with this system. It also obliges local government agencies and social service providers in the Emirate of Dubai to provide the Authority with all the data and information it requests, to establish, manage, and operate the unified system, in accordance with the standards and mechanisms set by the Authority to manage and deal with social and humanitarian cases.

The law also stipulated the establishment of a “Community Development Fund” in the Authority, the proceeds of which would be allocated to provide financial support to the groups that benefit from it, and to finance projects and social services in the Emirate of Dubai. The Fund aims to contribute to achieving social development in Dubai and build a more cohesive and stable society, and to contribute to ensuring protection and social care for the groups most vulnerable to harm, and to provide cash and in-kind assistance to them, in addition to providing urgent assistance to those affected in cases of disasters, crises, and emergency circumstances.

The Fund also aims to provide the necessary funding to support vocational training programs for unemployed individuals and prepare them for the labor market, and to contribute to raising the quality of life for the beneficiary groups, improving their standard of living and enhancing their role in society, in addition to strengthening the partnership with the private sector and motivating companies, institutions and individuals to contribute to financing community development programmes.

Issuing executive decisions

The law stipulates that the Director General of the Community Development Authority in Dubai shall issue the necessary decisions to implement the provisions of the law, with the exception of decisions that fall within the jurisdiction of the Chairman of the Executive Council in accordance with its provisions, provided that these decisions are published in the Official Gazette of the Government of Dubai.

This law replaces Law No. (8) of 2015 regarding the Community Development Authority in Dubai, and repeals Law No. (15) of 2020 regarding the transfer of some of the powers established for the Endowments and Minors’ Affairs Foundation to the Community Development Authority in Dubai. Any text in any other legislation is also repealed to the extent that it conflicts with the provisions of the new law.

The decisions and regulations issued in implementation of Law No. (8) of 2015 regarding the Community Development Authority in Dubai will continue to be implemented to the extent that they do not conflict with the provisions of the new law, until the decisions and regulations that replace them are issued.

This law shall be published in the Official Gazette, and shall be effective from the date of its publication.