RIYADH: The Saudi Red Crescent Authority honored its volunteers at its annual ceremony on Wednesday, revealing statistics of financial outcomes and volunteer projects in 2024.
In the presence of key figures in the humanitarian sector, the SRCA stressed that volunteering remained central to its social mission and an integral part of Vision 2030.
The SRCA honored the efforts put into projects in the health, educational, environmental, and media sectors by some 211,703 officially registered volunteers in 2024.
It said that 78 percent of its volunteers were under 30, with women significantly outnumbering men at 54 percent of the volunteer base, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
The SRCA recorded 47,946 volunteer opportunities across Saudi Arabia during the year, leading to nearly 119 million volunteering hours that contributed an estimated SR366 million ($97m) to the national economy.
The SRCA also facilitated a diverse range of volunteer activities in 2024, the SPA reported.
In the ambulance services it supported 8,435 opportunities, contributing to nearly 20 million hours of work, while it created 7,965 humanitarian aid openings which led to 88 million hours, and 13,770 educational initiatives with nine million hours of volunteering.
In the environmental sector it supported 935 opportunities totaling 258,023 hours, while media activities saw 924 opportunities with 108,563 hours, and administrative roles had 5,917 opportunities adding up to 899,058 hours.
The SRCA thanked its partners in the country’s public and private sectors for promoting a volunteer culture within their organizations. It also celebrated the success of Kafo, a program designed to incentivize and reward volunteering efforts.