Nearly 17,000 Qatar residents have signed up as volunteers to contribute to the efforts made by the country to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) in alignment with the standards of the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) and other authorities concerned.
The drives by both Qatar Charity and Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) are evoking tremendous response from both Qataris and expatriates. While the initiative by Qatar Charity saw the number of volunteers reaching 7,460, that by QRCS witnessed 9,500 individuals signing up.
For the Qatar Charity programme, the volunteer must be a Qatari citizen or a resident, at least 18 years old, and must be medically fit to perform the tasks assigned to them, according to official Qatar News Agency (QNA).
Qatar Charity has called on those wishing to volunteer in its efforts to prevent Covid-19 and contribute to curbing its spread to register through this link.
Several government bodies are contributing to Qatar Charity's voluntary in line with the state's plan to engage all institutions and organisations to curb the spread of Covid-19, as employees of the Public Works Authority through the ‘Ambassadors of Ashghal’ programme participated in these efforts by preparing food baskets.
Qatar Charity also co-operates with the MoPH and the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs in implementing an awareness campaign for workers to urge them to comply with the precautionary measures against Covid-19, as it has contributed by distributing a number of educational publications and videos to workers in languages such as Urdu, Hindi, Tagalog and Sri Lankan.
Personal hygiene, preventive and nutritional requirements and awareness leaflets were distributed to more than 3,500 workers in the industrial area of Al Khor as well as Al Shamal and Al Shahaniya ranches, in addition to 500 workers in Al Wakra ranches to preserve worker health and prevent the spread of the virus, QNA added.
The QRCS #Volunteer For Qatar initiative has struck a chord with the residents and 9,500 from across the country signed up, according to local Arabic daily Arrayah.
Mona Fadel al-Sulaiti, head of Local Development wing of QRCS, said that the initiative was conceived with an aim to draw Qatari youth and residents towards engaging in providing support to those who are in need of care and psychological support.
An operations room was created to follow developments in an up-to-date manner. The awareness-raising programmes are carried out in an intensified manner through social media, the website and QRCS health workers' centres.
Recently, social media was flooded with posts from people around the country offering any kind of help and support to deal with the ongoing crisis.
Ahmed al-Khulaifi, head of the Volunteering department at QRCS, said that the organisation invites everyone, who is capable to join the initiative, to register as volunteer. He added that QRCS wants to take advantage from the available persons and the organisation will communicate with all who completed registration for volunteering.
As per the QRCS drive, the volunteers can choose the task that suits them. They will be given training to carry out their duty in accordance with the demands of various bodies that seek help.
Dr Abdul Salam al-Qahtani, chairman of the Corona Crisis Committee, said that a working committee has been formed with QRCS to assist and support various bodies functioning in the country.
He explained that QRCS is one of the civil society institutions that always support Qatar. “We are currently working as partners to support the Ministry of Public Health to address the issues,” he added.
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