Under the patronage of Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, the Civil Service and Government Development Bureau (CGB) on Sunday held the first ceremony of the Qatar Government Excellence Award to honour ministries and government agencies.

The Qatar Government Excellence Award was launched based on Amiri Decision No (63) of 2023 issued by His Highness the Amir of the State of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in August. It was launched to enhance the quality of government performance and encourage government agencies to compete in applying quality, development and excellence in their performance by honoring outstanding achievements and efforts that contribute to achieving the Qatar National Vision 2030, which aims to take Qatar to advanced levels capable of achieving sustainable development.

The award includes seven categories divided into four main awards and three specialized sub-awards. The participating ministries and government agencies are divided into four main groups competing for the Irtiqaa Award and the Excellence Award awarded to ministries and government agencies that best meet all the criteria of the award to represent a model for all government agencies in providing systematic practices supported by documented and positive results in developing institutional performance, operations and services provided to citizens and residents, and investing its capabilities in electronic transformation to enhance efficiency and productivity.

Received by Minister of Interior HE Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the Ministry of Interior won the Irtiqaa Award for ministries.

The Irtiqaa Award for agencies was won by the Public Works Authority (Ashghal) and received by Minister of Municipality HE Abdullah bin Hamad bin Abdullah Al Attiyah.

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry won the Excellence Award for ministries and the award was received by Minister of Commerce and Industry HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Qassim Al Thani, the Excellence Award for agencies went to the Aspire Zone Foundation and received by the CEO of the Aspire Zone Foundation Mohammed Khalifa Al Suwaidi.

The sub-awards included Leadership awards in institutional transformation, comprehensive experience, and human capital development.

The Leadership Award in comprehensive experience went to the Ministry of Municipality for its pioneering practices in providing services and its adoption of effective work systems to manage complaints and suggestions on its services, as well as its endeavor to develop an exceptional experience for customers and employ modern technologies in providing services.

The award was received by Minister of Environment and Climate Change HE Abdullah bin Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Subaie (former Minister of Municipality), as well as Minister of Municipality HE Abdullah bin Hamad bin Abdullah Al Attiyah.

The Ministry of Sports and Youth won the Leadership Award in institutional transformation for motivating innovation and experimentation with emerging technologies as well as for its excellent leadership and ability to make proper and effective decisions.

The award was received by Minister of Sports and Youth HE Salah bin Ghanim Al Ali (former Minister) and Minister of Sports and Youth HE Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Thani (current minister).

The Leadership Award in human capital development was won by the Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC) for providing a distinguished and stimulating work environment for employees, enhancing trust and positive relations between stakeholders as well as implementing Qatarisation plans and attracting the necessary skills and competencies.

The award was received by the Managing Director of the PHCC Dr Maryam Abdulmalik.

The Qatar Government Excellence Award is one of the most important developments in the government excellence process that began in 2014. It seeks to provide government services that meet the needs of Qatari society, build a government sector characterized by flexibility while maintaining performance quality, invest in human resources to meet future requirements as well as provide a consistent experience to customers across service delivery channels.

The seventh national outcome of the third National Development Strategy (2024-2030) reflects Qatar’s ambition to reach global ranks through distinguished government institutions in accordance with ambitious outcomes, contributing to Qatar becoming a world-class provider of government services to citizen and residents and a top nation for effective, efficient, and transparent governance.

In his speech, President of the Civil Service and Government Development Bureau (CGB), President of the Qatar Government Excellence Award Committee of Trustees HE Abdulaziz bin Nasser bin Mubarak Al Khalifa said this ceremony constitutes a landmark on the path of government excellence.

He added that it is an effective implementation of the Third Qatar National Development Strategy’s Strategic National Outcome No. 7 on Government Excellence.

He said that the human asset is at the heart of the pursuit of excellence and that it is a continuous endeavor that requires constant improvement and relentless innovation.

Launched in demo version by CGB last year, he indicated that the Adaa platform aims to link individual performance to institutional performance in the pursuit of government excellence.

The CGB president said that the award’s launch came as a result of an extensive study of matters including global best practices and standards, only adopting those that are top-notch locally.

Regarding being on the jury of the Qatar Government Excellence Award, he named a number of factors that uphold the award’s transparency and objectivity, such as the trustees committee which has among its ranks representatives from multiple entities, the presence of independent external evaluators on inspection visits, follow-up reports, in addition to the sub-working groups in place who ensure the smooth running of the evaluation process and result integrity.

Commenting on future plans, the CGB president listed the regular development of the Award, upgrading the governance framework and enhancing the capabilities of participant entities, as well as expanding the scope of the award to include more categories in order to spread a sense of healthy competition among employees and encourage them to excel in completing their tasks, which in turn would raise the overall institutional performance in the public sector.

The CGB president said that this Award’s most important contribution lies in its follow-up reports, handed to participant government institutions, through which they can examine the evaluation’s findings in terms of institutional strengths and the areas in need of improvement. He added that the Award will be held every two years, in order to provide sufficient time for government institutions to work on their development plans and be able to include in them the recommendations of the follow-up reports.

Concluding his speech, he said that the Award is part of a comprehensive CGB initiative in partnership with government institution planning, quality, and innovation departments to improve government service efficiency and effectiveness, such as the introduction of the ‘Sharek’ platform which acts as a link between the local community and government service.

QNA