865 families get Dh60m in marriage grants
MINISTRY ALSO ORGANISES PREPARATION PROGRAMME, COUNSELLING
The Ministry of Community Development supported 865 Emirati families with marriage grants worth over Dh60 million in the first half of 2018.
Since the enactment of the Federal Law No 47 of 1992, the ministry has disbursed more than 65,000 marriage grants.
Hessa Bint Eisa Bu Humaid, Minister of Community Development, said: “Enhancing family cohesion is one of the ministry’s most important strategic objectives, and supporting the establishment and stability of new families is an integral part of this priority.”
In addition to providing marriage grants, she said that the role of the ministry extends to providing counselling and awareness programmes.
She highlighted the Eadad (Preparation) programme, an integrated training course held across the UAE, covers six main topics — family building, marriage and its requirements, family relations, coping with family problems, financial and family planning, partnership between spouses in raising children, and the role of the family unit in society.
With sessions led by experienced family education specialists, the programme raises awareness of the importance of family stability and a positive home environment.
In 2017, the ministry organised 31 Eadad training courses for 4,696 attendees. In the first half of this year, 10 training courses benefited 1,280 citizens. The ministry has launched several new initiatives, such as relationship workshops for newlyweds in the first five years of marriage and a confidential telephone counselling service focused on resolving family issues.
The marriage grant of Dh70,000 is paid at once.
According to the criteria for eligibility, both spouses must be UAE citizens, with the husband not younger than 21 and the wife not younger than 18.
The basic monthly salary of each of the spouses must not exceed Dh25,000. The spouses must submit a grant application within six months from the date of the marriage contract, and must attend awareness courses and lectures organised by the ministry within one year from the date of application.