RIYADH: Saudi Arabia celebrated International Volunteer Day on Saturday by launching Saudi Volunteer Day to strengthen the values of volunteer work included in the objectives of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 goal to have 1 million male and female volunteers by the end of the decade.
The event, titled “Ataa Watan” (A Country’s Giving) is supported by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, and covers all 13 regions of the Kingdom, to spread awareness about the positive impact of volunteer work on the individual and society.
Starting from this year, to be held for three consecutive years, the ministry aims to boost volunteer work, with the event accompanied by a guidebook.
Saudi Volunteer Day is part of the ministry’s initiatives related to volunteer work, including launching the Voluntary Work Platform on March 31. The ministry launched a number of new initiatives as part of Saudi Volunteer Day 2020, including the Health Awareness Initiative, organized in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, targeting the whole of Saudi society.
FASTFACT
International Volunteer Day is an international event launched in 1985 by the UN and held on Dec. 5 of every year, to appreciate and thank volunteers all over the world for their work and efforts, and to strengthen the culture of volunteering.
It also launched the Restoring and Rehabilitating Residences and Buildings Initiative, organized in collaboration with the Ministry of Housing, with the aim of repairing, restoring and refurbishing the houses of families in need and those belonging to people with low incomes, as well as carrying out restoration and decoration work at sites in public places, including schools and mosques.
The ministry also launched the Afforestation Initiative, which aims to boost the efforts of the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture of Saudi Arabia to fight desertification and plant 12 million trees by 2020 in various regions of the Kingdom. This initiative is organized in collaboration with various agricultural societies, plant nurseries, farms, Scout groups, volunteer teams in universities and education administrations, and volunteering societies.
International Volunteer Day is an international event launched in 1985 by the UN and held on Dec. 5 of every year, to appreciate and thank volunteers all over the world for their work and efforts, and to strengthen the culture of volunteering.
