Abu Dhabi: Volunteering one time provides numerous benefits to the youth, including allowing them to build their confidence and develop professional networks, a top official said in the capital on Sunday.
This is why the UAE leaders’ endorsement of voluntary work, by designating 2017 as the Year of Giving, sends such a powerful message, Clare Woodcraft-Scott, chief executive officer at the Emirates Foundation for Youth Development, told Gulf News.
“By their very nature, voluntary activities are a means of giving back to one’s community. But they also allow youth to develop a sense of confidence in themselves, along with a robust professional network that can assist in their future career choices. This is why the Year of Giving is such an excellent initiative,” she said.
“The move, which follows many high-level discussions, will surely propagate a culture of giving,” she added.
The spirit of giving was yesterday (December 24) marked as a theme for the UAE in 2017, with the aim of strengthening social responsibility, promoting volunteerism and instilling in youth a sense of serving their nation. As part of the announcement, President His Highness Shaikha Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan said that the level of importance of a voluntary culture is an indicator of social development.
According to Woodcraft-Scott, there has been a heightened awareness recently of the need to contribute to one’s society.
“We saw this trend last year as firms displayed greater corporate social responsibility. In addition, many organisations have been established lately that list social development as their goal,” she added.
The Emirates Foundation for Youth Development is itself an independent philanthropic organisation that focuses on youth welfare. It already runs two volunteer-based programmes for its nearly 60,000 members, Takatof and Sanid.
Takatof, a flagship initiative for the Foundation, allows youth to volunteer for a range of social causes. For instance, these volunteers will soon assist in developing sports opportunities for individuals with special needs, as reported by Gulf News last month. In the past, Takatof volunteers have organised iftars for low-income workers, assisted the elderly to perform Umrah, and renovated the homes of underprivileged families in the UAE.
Sanid, on the other hand, is a scheme that allows residents to participate in emergency response services. It gathers trained Emirati and expatriate volunteers with a sense of civic responsibility to assist in times of crisis, including during fires and other emergency situations. Since its launch in 2009, more than 9,000 volunteers have been taught to handle real-life disasters.
Woodcraft-Scott earlier said that the Foundation hopes to increase the reach of its activities in the northern emirates, especially after the launch of its office in Ras Al Khaimah.
