UAE: FNC calls for regulation of volunteering, hours worked – News

These recommendations aim to spread and encourage a culture of volunteering while raising awareness of its importance

Regulating volunteer work to support individuals, government officials and civic institutions by establishing a federal database will be high on the agenda when the UAE’s Federal National Council (FNC) meets on Wednesday.

Dhirar Hamid Belhoul Al Falasi, chairman of the FNC’s social affairs, labour, population and human resources committee, said his committee had adopted 13 parliamentary recommendations in its final report on the issue of “regulating volunteer work,” which will be part of the meeting. member.

One of the main recommendations is to document volunteer work and hours at the federal level.

Al Falasi noted that the committee also emphasized the importance of incorporating the concept of online volunteering into the curriculum at all levels of education.

The recommendations aim to spread and encourage a culture of volunteering, while raising awareness of its importance and coordinating the outcomes of volunteering in the UAE.

The committee also recommended that the ministry develop annual objectives and performance indicators for activities and business plans to achieve the strategic objective of building a culture of volunteering in society, to enhance the culture of volunteering and raise awareness of its importance. This is in line with the ‘UAE Centennial 2071’ objective of building a more cohesive society.

The committee also recommends establishing metrics for preparing and publishing research and reports on volunteer work.

The FNC member explained that the committee made four observations on the state authorities’ organization of volunteering efforts at the state level. One is limited business activities to increase the number of citizens registered on the volunteer platform.

“This has led to a lack of awareness among individuals of the importance of volunteering and an inability to assess and develop volunteer work to serve members of society,” he said.

Another observation is the lack of strategic initiatives and programs to spread a culture of e-volunteering by using social media and voluntary agencies to educate members of society on the power of IT in all aspects of development, including volunteering.

A third observation, according to Al Falasi, was the inconsistency of indicators measuring dedicated volunteering projects, as well as the lack of registration of all volunteer teams on official volunteering platforms. “This has resulted in a multitude of agencies overseeing volunteering and a fragmentation of individual and institutional efforts,” he said.

A fourth observation is the result of a lack of metrics to measure training and rehabilitation programs to help volunteers improve their abilities and skills, Al Falasi added.