• Home
• /
• UAE

Volunteer Day: Dubai entity offers prizes on voluntary works

Dubai - Volunteering is deeply rooted in Emirati society, says Dewa chief

The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) has launched a voluntary programme, iVolunteer, on its smart app and website, where its employees can sign up and document their voluntary hours to redeem points and receive prizes.

Launched in conjunction with International Volunteer Day, the initiative is part of Dewa’s efforts to increase and promote volunteering among the staff. This also meets the requirements of the Dubai Government Excellence and increases Dewa’s leading position in volunteering across the UAE.

“Volunteering is deeply rooted in Emirati society. It presents a civilised approach that stems from the UAE’s principles. Dewa works within an integrated and sustainable system for volunteering. As a socially responsible organisation, Dewa works to promote voluntarism among its staff and stakeholders. It has launched several programmes and initiatives to encourage stakeholders to do sustainable volunteering and attaches great importance to it, along with their professional life,” said Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, managing director and CEO of Dewa.

“Launching the iVolunteer programme makes Dewa the first government organisation in Dubai to switch to a digital internal volunteering programme, instead of using paper. This underlines its leadership and excellence in several areas. The programme also supports digital transformation at Dewa, and its efforts to increase the cut of its paper usage reached 96.8 per cent in Q3 of 2020,” added Al Tayer.

“Dewa has been focusing on achieving a balance between economic, environmental and social goals. This is in accordance with an institutional framework for community service. Dewa launched its Volunteer Diploma in 2019 based on the world-class standards to enhance the capabilities of participants in all aspects of voluntarism, qualify them to manage volunteering programmes locally and globally, and prepare them to become trainers in Dewa’s Volunteer Leadership Programme. Dewa’s employees play a substantial role in making Dewa’s initiatives, volunteering and humanitarian programmes successful, which are an indispensable part of its strategy and efforts to empower society. Dewa launched 330 initiatives from 2013 to 2019 with a total of 131,000 voluntary hours by Dewa staff,” said Khawla Al Meheiri, executive vice-president of Strategy and Government Communications at Dewa.

-waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com