The Founder’s Office, chaired by His Excellency Sheikh Zayed bin Hamad Al Nahyan, has formalized seven core values drawn from the life and leadership of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan as the operational and philosophical bedrock of the UAE’s national identity. The move represents a deliberate effort to institutionalize the principles that shaped the country’s development model and to embed them as reference points for government, educational, and cultural institutions going forward.
The seven values are Wisdom, Respect, Human Development, Determination, Sustainability, Unity, and Generosity. Each addresses a distinct dimension of Sheikh Zayed’s vision and the practical priorities that guided the nation’s construction. Wisdom encompasses learning from historical experience while remaining open to future possibilities. Respect centers on promoting dignity, coexistence, and mutual understanding across populations. Human Development positions investment in people as the essential driver of national progress. Determination frames ambition as achievable through resilience and sustained effort. Sustainability commits to resource protection for current and future generations. Unity emphasizes collaboration and shared purpose. Generosity extends compassion and support beyond immediate national boundaries.
The office functions as the custodian of this legacy framework. Its work spans research, documentation, strategic communications, and institutional partnerships, creating structured engagement with Sheikh Zayed’s life, leadership methods, and humanitarian values. That includes providing guidance to government entities, educational institutions, and cultural organizations on historical accuracy, imagery, quotations, and the application of emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, in communicating his story with integrity and contextual fidelity.
The practical scope is broad. These values will guide the development of educational resources, cultural programs, research initiatives, and public engagement activities. The office positions itself as the authoritative source on Sheikh Zayed’s legacy, ensuring consistency and respect in how his story is communicated across all sectors.
The timing is deliberate. The formalization aligns with the UAE Year of Family, which the office identifies as an opportunity to transmit national values and authentic Emirati heritage to younger generations while reinforcing the principles that shaped the nation’s identity.
By contrast with frameworks that remain aspirational, the office frames these seven values as active reference points during periods of rapid change, capable of guiding both individual and organizational behavior. They serve as a bridge between historical foundation and contemporary governance, offering continuity in institutional messaging and national identity formation. The development philosophy they reflect centers on people, social cohesion, and sustainable progress, underscoring investment in human capital, cultures of coexistence, collective action, and humanitarian responsibility. According to the office, this contributed to establishing a development model distinct in its emphasis on people-centered growth rather than resource extraction alone.
The office’s approach is systematic. By anchoring these values as foundational to the UAE’s identity and governance, it establishes a structured mechanism for ensuring Sheikh Zayed’s vision remains operative across generations and institutional contexts. Whether that mechanism translates consistently into practice across the range of government, educational, and cultural institutions it is meant to reach remains the open question its work is designed to answer.