UAE volunteers deserve a hearty salute

The UAE’s national campaign aimed at supporting volunteer efforts at the state level, harnessing the expertise, skills and talents of community members and involving them in the volunteering process has proved hugely successful.

It is a matter of pride for the nation that the “UAE Volunteers” campaign has become popular with UAE citizens and residents alike, who competed to fulfill the call of duty by volunteering in 125 opportunities; 98 field and 27 virtual opportunities remotely, as the number of volunteers enrolled in the campaign within a month of its launch reached more than 18,740 volunteers belonging to more than 132 nationalities residing in the UAE.

The country has not only set a perfect model of unity in diversity for the rest of the world to emulate, but has also shown how a caring, compassionate society could join hands in complete solidarity when challenges arise.

The activities of the national “UAE Volunteers” campaign, which was announced by the Supreme National Committee for Volunteerism during Crises, was launched in early April, under the umbrella of the “volunteers.ae” platform in partnership between the Ministry of Community Development and the Emirates Foundation for Youth Development, under the supervision of the National Emergency and Crisis Management Authority.

The campaign has well proved its efficiency in underpinning the values of giving and solidarity for all segments of society.

The number of resident volunteers supporting the national efforts made by our soldiers in the first line of defence to confront the spread of COVID-19 reached more than 13,170 volunteers residing in the UAE, in addition to 5,555 volunteers from citizens.

The beauty also lies in the diversity of the participating teams.

According to the data of the National Volunteer Campaign, the Emirati volunteers topped the list with 30 per cent of the attending and most participating volunteers in the “UAE Volunteers” campaign with 5,555 volunteers, followed by resident volunteers of Indian nationality with a total of 2,010 volunteers, and the Egyptian community with 1,837 volunteers, and those with the Syrian nationality made up 1,319 volunteers, while the Pakistani nationality equaled 977 volunteers, as well as 753 Jordanian volunteers, 634 Sudanese volunteers, 564 Yemeni volunteers, 535 Palestinian volunteers and 496 volunteers from Philippines.

The numbers of volunteers from the rest of residing nationals in the UAE differ in numbers.

Kindness and compassion are well known traits of Emiratis. No wonder, Emirati volunteer Hamad Nasser Al-Alawi expressed his happiness with joining the initiative.

In his own words: “I am a volunteer in more than one line, as I sensed that I must fulfill the call of the nation. Volunteering is a humanitarian action that serves our people and our precious society, and fieldwork reflects the reality we live in amidst these challenges. This experience has changed many of my concepts such as the importance of health and education in our lives. I would like to thank all those in charge of this initiative as the precautionary measures imposed on ground have supported us to continue our work and united our efforts to face these challenges that we will overcome together, God willing.”

It is enriching to note that the campaign has achieved unprecedented accomplishments in the area of field volunteering in support of national efforts to address the repercussions of COVID-19, and virtual volunteering, which is a development and community precedent in the UAE, as it allows everyone to have the name “volunteer” from home and be able to do so at any time and place.