A programme has been launched in Dubai to encourage young Emiratis to get married.
The Dubai Wedding Programme offers citizens incentives to help reduce wedding costs – including marriage planning services and holding parties in modern halls across the emirate.
Family counselling for newlyweds will also be provided, as will marriage planning, family management and financial advice for young couples.
Dubai's Community Development Authority launched the programme on Monday and said it aimed to reduce the financial burden on citizens, as well as provide them with stability and a higher quality of life.
Wedding hall locations will include venues in Al Barsha, Al Lisaili, Hatta and soon Al Twar Hall.
Hessa Buhumaid, director general of the CDA, said the immediate goal for the programme was to provide financial and social support to young people to encourage them to get married.
She said the aspiration was to change stereotypes related to exaggerated wedding ceremonies, as well as help a larger segment of young men and women to marry at an early age, aimed at increasing the number of Emirati families in the country.
Those on the programme, she said, will be provided with educational courses on how to build their new life and plan financially.
The programme is part of the Dubai Social Agenda 33, a Dh208 billion ($56.6 billion) plan announced last week by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai.
“Family is the cornerstone of the nation and the foundation of all development plans,” Sheikh Mohammed said. “Our ultimate objective is to enhance the quality of citizens’ lives for a brighter future.
“Its budget is Dh208 billion over the next decade, aiming at the citizens of our families in Dubai – providing housing, improving living standards, identity, values, social cohesion, health care, and developing future skills in our upcoming generations.”
Sheikh Mohammed earlier this month announced a plan to double the number of Emirati families in Dubai within 10 years and approved a series of projects to build more homes for Emiratis.
Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
MATCH INFO
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Champions League quarter-final, first leg
Ajax v Juventus, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE)
Match on BeIN Sports
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