UAE National Day Public Holiday Announced

On December 2, the United Arab Emirates is celebrating the 43rd anniversary of its founding with nation-wide festivities and a non-working holiday. Workers in the public sector will get a long, 5-day holiday.

• Read more: Great Festivities for 43rd UAE National Day

On occasion of the 43rd National Day, federal workers will have a long holiday. According to the official statement of Hussain bin Ibrahim Al Hammadi, Minister of Education and chairman of the Federal Authority for Government Human Resources in the state news agency WAM, all ministries and federal institutions across the United Arab Emirates will be closed Tuesday, December 2, to Thursday, December 4, 2014. As Friday and Saturday are also non-working days, the holiday will be five days and work will resume on Sunday, December 7.

However, the statement didn’t mention the private sector and it is still unclear whether private company workers will have a holiday or how long it would be. Most probably, the private sector will get only one day – December 2, which is right in the middle of the week. So, many employees are unsatisfied that they are not receiving the same attention as those who work I state agencies and intuitions. The National Day will be celebrated across all seven emirates with different events, government initiatives, fireworks, musical shows and so on. As always, Dubai will have a varied programme of massive events, including the National Day Parade in Downtown Dubai, which gathers thousands of residents and guests of the city into a spectacular and colourful street parade.

The Friday announcement is part of the directives of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and following the orders of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.