More than 1 million people register for voluntary work ahead of Saudi National Day

Children in a festive mood, as Saudi Arabia prepares to celebrate its 92nd National Day on Sept. 23 with pomp and tow. Several events have been lined up across the Kingdom. (SPA)
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  • National Volunteer Portal aims to promote voluntary opportunities in various sectors, including chances to help with National Day activities and initiatives

RIYADH: As the 92nd Saudi National Day approaches, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development has revealed that more than 1 million people have registered with its National Volunteer Portal.

The portal aims to promote voluntary work opportunities offered by organizations in various sectors, including chances to help with National Day activities and initiatives. It is described as an incubator that provides a safe environment for volunteers, coordinates their efforts with those of the organizations offering voluntary opportunities, and protects the rights of both parties.

The platform includes offers a number of advantages for volunteers, the ministry said, the foremost of which is full documentation within the Absher government services platform of the hours of work they donate. 

Mashael Al-Mubarak, general director of volunteering at the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, told Arab News that her team has been focusing recently on opportunities for volunteers to contribute to the celebrations for National Day, which takes place on Friday this week.

“This is what we have worked on during the last period and we have (been) receiving requests from volunteers wishing to register in volunteer opportunities, contribute to various sectors and support activities and initiatives to celebrate the 92nd Saudi National Day,” she said. 

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The number of people who have benefited from the work of volunteers has reached more than 34 million.

“The opportunities that were presented on the occasion of the National Day cover various fields of community service and related sectors, in accordance with the controls that were set by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development and the General Administration of Voluntary Work in the ministry.”

She added that the official efforts to promote the value of volunteering are designed to help achieve the goals of Saudi Vision 2030 relating to “encouraging volunteer work, with the aim of strengthening and consolidating the values of giving, generating awareness of the culture of volunteer work and achieving Vision 2030’s goal of reaching one million volunteers in 2030.”

Al-Mubarak said the generous nature of the Saudi people is reflected in the fact that more than 1 million people and 3,629 public and private-sector organizations have registered with the National Volunteer Portal and the number of people who have benefited from the work of volunteers has reached more than 34 million.

She added that 345,379 people have volunteered at least once using the portal and, taking into account those who have volunteered multiple times, 1,371,324 activities have been completed over a total of 19,108,609 hours on more than 214,000 projects.