'National Volunteer Award' Celebrates Egypt's Good Samaritans

The Ministry of Solidarity launched the first edition of the National Award for Volunteers - an annual award to shine a light on Egypt’s civil society and good Samaritans. The award ceremony took place during the United Nations Volunteers’ ‘International Volunteer Day’ celebration at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization.

The National Volunteer Award 2021 received more than 206 submissions from volunteers who made notable ‘National Voluntary Efforts to Reduce the Effects of the Coronavirus Pandemic’. Six winners were selected: Ahmed Bahy, Life Makers Foundation; Yasmine Shehata, National Center for Human Resources Development; Maysa Hassan, Campaign to Confront COVID-19; Ahmed Mamdouh, the Egyptian Union of Scouts and Guides; Ibrahim Al-Nubi, the Youth Association for Comprehensive Development and Radwa Jamal Al Mahdi.

During this celebration, 18 of Egypt’s impactful civil society foundations and global institutions organized and hosted a training session for more than 350 volunteers to raise awareness on the importance of community work as a pivotal pillar of Egypt’s overarching development.

Next year’s edition of the awards will honour volunteer activities to protect the environment and mitigate the effects of climate change, in alignment with Egypt’s hosting of COP27.

The Ministry of Social Solidarity drafted a national strategy for organizing and encouraging volunteering in Egypt. The new strategy strives to promote digital volunteering as a means of generating more accessible opportunities, and will be rolled out from 2022 to 2026.

A ‘Volunteer Work Charter’ is also currently in the works that will safeguard the rights of volunteers and ensure a level playing field where women, young students and people in remote areas have access to equal opportunities. This new civil work practice law opens the door to new opportunities and assurances for Egypt’s valiant volunteers