Nama Centre, one of Qatar Foundation for Social Work (QFSW)’s affiliated centres, has participated in the 2017 International Volunteer Day celebrations.
The participation comes within the framework of its “ongoing encouragement of voluntary work and the promotion of community participation, while reaffirming the importance of volunteering as a noble humanitarian value and the need to support volunteers for their pivotal role in achieving comprehensive development in their communities”, Nama has said in a press statement.
The centre’s first voluntary work forum was launched in 1998, organised by its volunteers, to encourage individuals and institutions to contribute to volunteerism and instil the meaning and value of voluntary work in the hearts of citizens and residents.
In 1999, the Volunteer Award was launched and has been celebrated annually ever since on International Volunteer Day, which falls on December 5 every year.
The Volunteer Award aims to promote a culture of giving and nurturing voluntary and humanitarian efforts of individuals, groups and institutions, in recognition and honour of their work, in addition to raising awareness of the role of volunteering in the development of society and motivating individuals and institutions to nurture it.
Other key initiatives include the National Campaign to Promote Volunteerism and the Qatar Volunteers Network initiative.
The strategic directions of the centre, 2017-2022, include an integrated strategy to promote youth participation in community service and allow them to develop and interact within Nama’s project for the development of social entrepreneurs. The project is implemented through two channels: the ‘Moqbeleen’ and ‘Sama Nama’ projects.
Maryam bint Abdullatif al-Mannai, acting executive manager of Nama Centre, said: “The celebration of this day is a great opportunity to continue efforts to expand the voluntary work framework through the launch of new voluntary social development projects and developing existing ones, as well as the dissemination of volunteerism on a larger scale and the recruitment of more young people.”

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