Year of Giving concludes with five legislations, two national strategies

Mohammad Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs and The Future and Chairman of the Higher National Committee for the Year of Giving, has confirmed that the Year of Giving concluded with a whopping 2.8 million volunteer hours logged and 270,000 volunteers registered.

Five legislations, two national strategies and ten sustainable initiatives were also launched in the areas of Corporate Social Responsibilities, CSR, and volunteerism. The private sector contributed a total of AED1.6 billion to humanitarian initiatives.

He said, "During the Year of Giving, we dedicated ourselves to spreading the spirit of giving in various field, as one team, under the guidance of our wise leadership. We sought to achieve our goals, as established by the Higher National Committee for the Year of Giving, and to dedicate our work to the memory of the UAE’s martyrs and heroes. As the year ends, we will continue spreading the spirit of giving long after because it is an important part of our identity and culture."

Al Gergawi stressed that the Year of Giving set the foundation, for the first time, for institutionalising charitable work in the UAE – five legislations were adopted with the goal of establishing a sustainable and legislative framework for charities and volunteering. The legislations are The Federal Law on Volunteer Work, The Federal Law on Waqf, along with legislations regarding CSR Responsibilities, Establishing a Coordinating Council for Humanitarian Institutions, and Community Service Responsibilities.

He also discussed the importance of all of the new strategies in strengthening the country’s pioneering role in humanitarian work. He highlighted the importance of the National Strategy for Volunteering 2021 in developing an integrated framework for volunteering in the UAE, involving all social segments in this important work that benefits the community. He also highlighted the Development Plan for Humanitarian and Charitable Institutions, which aims to enhance the work of humanitarian institutions at the local, regional and global levels by investing in staff skills development.

The Year of Giving introduced ten sustainable initiatives in the areas of CSR, volunteerism and enhancing the growth of humanitarian institutions and the development sector.

In the area of corporate social responsibilities, the CSR Smart Platform was launched, a comprehensive electronic platform that provides public companies in the private sector opportunities to participate in development and community projects. The National Social Responsibility Index was also introduced, providing a classification system and recognition of companies and private sector institutions based on their humanitarian and charitable contributions.

Within the framework of volunteering, the Specialised Volunteering Programme was introduced, with various incentives for skills-based volunteers. In addition, the Involving Government Employees in Volunteering programme was launched, including setting up a new federal mechanism to encourage federal and local government employees to volunteer, and Opportunities in Government, through which a list of volunteer opportunities will be shared for all segments of society.

Within the pillar of the growth of humanitarian organisations and the development sector, the Smart Platform for Developmental and Charity Work was launched as an online platform with all pertinent information on humanitarian, charitable and developmental institutions in the country, with the goal of achieving integration between them. The Giving Card initiative was also launched in cooperation with charities and banks, inspiring people to give donations to charitable causes.