Abu Dhabi, UAE – His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, may God protect him, launched the “Volunteering and Community Participation System”, with the aim of consolidating the values of community giving and enhancing the role of public benefit institutions in supporting sustainable development and building a cooperative and cohesive society.
- Eight strategic initiatives to expand volunteer work and empower public benefit organizations
- First focus: Establishing a culture of volunteer work
- Second focus: Empowering public benefit institutions
- National Strategic Goals for Giving and Development
- The UAE’s message: Development through giving, with people at the center.
His Highness stressed that the launch of the new system comes to consolidate the UAE’s approach of combining economic growth and humanitarian giving, noting that the country is moving forward in enabling and organizing volunteer work in a way that enhances the community’s contribution to national development.
His Highness said via the “X” platform: “We launched the Emirates Volunteer and Community Participation System at Qasr Al Watan, which includes a comprehensive national volunteering strategy to raise the number of volunteers to 600,000, launch an integrated platform for them, and support the third sector and public benefit institutions to increase their number by 30% during the coming period, through a unified portal for their services and procedures, incubators for their businesses, and a fund worth 100 million dirhams to support their institutions.”
His Highness added: “Our goal is to empower volunteering, enhance community participation, and consolidate goodness in our country… The UAE is a country of economy and growth, a country of goodness and giving that builds with one hand and gives with the other… Our future is better because it soars with two wings: the wing of economy and cooperation, and the wing of giving and solidarity.”
Eight strategic initiatives to expand volunteer work and empower public benefit organizations
The system includes eight strategic initiatives under the umbrella of the Ministry of Community Empowerment, implemented through two integrated tracks: the first to consolidate the culture of volunteer work in the UAE, and the second to empower public benefit institutions and increase their contribution to the national economy.
The launch of the system coincides with the “Year of the Community”, in line with the state’s directions to promote social cohesion, expand the scope of volunteer work, and support public benefit institutions as a key driver of sustainable development.
First focus: Establishing a culture of volunteer work
This axis includes four main initiatives:
The comprehensive national strategy for volunteering, to develop policies and legislation and expand specialized and general volunteering opportunities.
The “UAE Volunteers 2.0” platform represents the digital pulse of volunteer work, linking skills with opportunities and providing an advanced interactive experience.
The “7 Volunteer Opportunities in 7 Emirates” initiative aims to promote specialized volunteer work at the national level.
The “Your Time is a Blessing” initiative aims to establish a culture of volunteering in federal government institutions and to encourage employees to contribute to the community.
Second focus: Empowering public benefit institutions
It includes four other initiatives:
The unified portal for public benefit institutions, to simplify services and procedures within a single digital platform.
The Public Benefit Institutions Empowerment Fund, with a value of 100 million dirhams, to transform financing into sustainable national investment.
Public benefit accelerators, to be an incubator for entrepreneurial ideas and to transform them into effective and licensed institutions.
The focus of public benefit in leadership programs is to prepare a new generation of leaders capable of developing community work.
National Strategic Goals for Giving and Development
The system aims to achieve significant leaps forward over the next five years, including:
The UAE has been ranked among the top three countries globally in the World Giving Index.
Increasing the number of volunteers to 600,000 active volunteers, contributing 15 million volunteer hours annually.
Doubling the contribution of public benefit institutions to the gross domestic product.
Creating 10,000 new job opportunities in the community and volunteer sector.
The number of licensed public benefit institutions increased by 30%.
The UAE’s message: Development through giving, with people at the center.
This comprehensive system reflects the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum to make volunteer work a pillar of sustainable national development, and to consolidate the UAE’s position as a leading country in social responsibility and humanitarian giving, combining economic and human development in one path towards a more prosperous and cohesive future.
