Frontline Heroes Get Their Armour: The Human Face of Jaheziya
When a crisis strikes, we often see the headline-figures: the hospitals, the emergency vehicles, the rescue facts. But behind every response is a person — a frontline worker, a volunteer, someone stepping into the unknown. The Jaheziya Initiative recognises that those individuals deserve more than thanks; they deserve the tools, training and infrastructure to succeed.
People first
Led by the Frontline Heroes Office (established by presidential decree in July 2020) the program tracks over 80,000 frontline professionals and volunteers across the UAE—healthcare practitioners, security providers, sterilisation personnel, and more.
By equipping them with internationally recognised accreditation, the Initiative isn’t just boosting their capabilities—it’s bolstering their careers and sense of purpose. As the Chairman of the Board of the Frontline Heroes Office put it:
“As a nation, we have a responsibility … to invest in and maintain the highest level of emergency and disaster response capabilities … At the same time, we owe it to our frontline professionals to provide them with the highest standards of professional training available …”
Training that transcends disciplines
What’s unusual about Jaheziya is its cross-discipline approach. Rather than focusing only on doctors or paramedics, it brings in non-medical responders, volunteers, and broader emergency services. The logic: real-world disasters don’t respect job titles. A virus outbreak might demand security, logistics, medical care and public outreach all at once.
Impact on the ground
This initiative shifts the paradigm: from reactive (‘we’ll train when something happens’) to proactive (‘we are ready before anything happens’). For residents and citizens alike, this means greater confidence in the system. For frontline workers, it means tangible career enhancement. For the nation, it means measurable resilience.
