Ajman, March 20^th – His Highness Sheikh Ammar Bin Humaid Al Nuaimi, Crown Prince of Ajman,  Chairman of the Executive Council, reviewed a study on promoting the competitive capacity of entrepreneurs through the Program for Preparing Young Entrepreneurs, which is the first of its kind at the level of the Emirate, and the research  results of “Child Happiness for 2021” in Ajman in its third edition, which is a community initiative, the first of its kind in the Emirate , which was launched some years ago and continued to be annually assessed. This year it has been developed to include a questionnaire to monitor the extent of children's adaptation to the precautionary measures taken due to the spread of Corona virus ( COVID -19) pandemic, in addition to monitoring parents’ opinion on the impact of Corona virus ( COVID -19) pandemic on their children's feeling happy towards aspects of life, in conjunction with the International Day of Happiness that falls on March 20.

Upon approving the research at his office at the Ruler's Court, in the presence of His Excellency Dr. Saeed Saif Al Matroushi, Secretary General of the Executive Council and Dr. Hajar Saeed Al Hubaishi, Executive Director of  Ajman Statistics and Competitiveness Center, H.H. appreciated, the efforts of the ASCC  which worked on developing a program and established this research based on the best practices on studying the  entrepreneurship and child happiness. Further, He pointed out that many institutions in Ajman intend to implement various initiatives in line with the International Day of Happiness, which falls on March 20^th  of each year.

Based on an analytical study presented by Ajman Statistics and Competitiveness Center, H.H. commended the launch of the initiative "Program for Preparing Young Entrepreneurs" from the age of 8 to 17, which is the first of its kind at the level of the Emirate.

His Highness directed that the ASCC shall complete the study and the program in coordination with all the concerned authorities, to be within clear frameworks and procedures, and  launched by the competent authority during the forthcoming period.

The initiative aims at promoting the competitive environment of the Emirate, increasing the number of entrepreneurs in Ajman, upgrading the research and development works in the Emirate, establishing the necessary rules for building an entrepreneurial and pioneering society in terms of the commercial business in Ajman, qualifying a promising generation for the economic development, encouraging and motivating talented juniors, empowering the entrepreneurial personality from a young age, acquiring best work ethics, helping them to realize the importance of money in a better way, enhancing the creative thinking, acquiring improved skills and educating the juniors about the importance of planning and mechanisms for determining the objectives.

The main outcomes of the Child Happiness Study for 2021 in the Emirate of Ajman revealed that the child happiness rate with their families reached 94.3%, while the percentage of child happiness with their health was 92.9% and 91.8% with their appearance.

The study, also , revealed the extent to which the children have adapted to the precautionary measures in light of Corona virus pandemic, which reached 74.7% in general, while the children were less adapted to staying away from the friends and their  inability to meet up with the other family members and closure of the schools.   Nine new axes have been added to the study, namely; the extent to which the children are adapted to washing hands continuously, maintaining the social distancing, reducing face contact, societal isolation, remote study from home, cancellation of the exams, closing the schools, as well as being unable to meet with the family or friends.

Moreover , the study observed the parents' opinion on the impact of Corona virus pandemic on their children happiness towards aspects of life, including the way they spend time and their vision for the future and the extent of its impact on the health, money and things the children have and their ability to choose, in addition to its impact on the child's feeling towards the friends and the school.

The ASCC implemented a self-electronic questionnaire targeting more than 2000 children living in the Emirate of Ajman, with the targeted ages ranged between 9 to 13 years, with the aim of identifying the level of child happiness in the Emirate and enhancing it by identifying the sources and factors of happiness and their significaance to them. This is considered as one of the important models for building a happy life. Noting that it is important to ensure happiness of the child at such age, which contributes to raising their satisfaction level while getting older, as happiness greatly depends on the way of thinking the person is used to and grew up with since the childhood.

His Highness appreciated the importance of diversifying the programs and researches that will contribute to building a happy and safe community within the national work system and enhancing the Emirate's position in terms of happiness and child leadership indices through joining efforts of both the government and private sectors in introducing initiatives that contribute to raising those indices.