…Introduction
. The UAE is the country of Giving. ‘The UAE’s President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan has declared 2017 the Year of Giving. Giving’ is a value we cherish and saw personified in the UAE’s Founding Father Sheikh Zayed, it is not difficult to do good (Maktoum, 2017). It is not difficult to make a difference. Every father, mother, and son can ask themselves what can do for making families happy also how make a real difference in the lives of those around them. In this report I will talk about the year of giving, what is meaning and goal of year of giving, how people can make a difference and Initiatives for the year of giving 2017.
Meaning and goal of Year of Giving
Through the experience of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid the meaning of Year of Giving is: ‘giving is not limited to monetary donations. Rather, ‘giving’ is defined by the differences we make: the differences in someone’s life, in a society, or in a nation’ (Maktoum, 2017). Sheikh Zayed’s legacy is not measured in the generous donations he made to the less fortunate only, but in the impact he has had on our lives and our country forever. Moreover, the goal for the Year of Giving ‘ to make a difference in the lives of those we care for, and in ourselves (Maktoum, 2017).
Three main axes
There are three main axes focusing the work during the Year of Giving:
1- establishment of social responsibility in the private sector institutions to play its role in serving the country and contributing
2- Second axis is to consolidate the spirit of volunteering and volunteer programs in all sectors of the society to enable them to provide real services to the UAE community and benefit from its competencies in all fields.
3- The third axis is to consolidate the service of the nation in the new generations as one of the most important characteristics of the Emirati personality it is a lifelong love of the homeland that has been established for decades in all the hearts of UAE nationals and residents on its land.
How can people make a difference?
Every individual, government, private, business, science, professional, or young person can ask himself one question: How can you make a difference?
The answer is volunteering as one of the main pillars of the Year of Giving, that everyone can contribute to the service of the society "the student in his school and the neighbor with his neighbor and father in his family and the doctor in his profession and the engineer in his position every person can offer something to his community." "We want to open the doors of specialized volunteerism in every field," he said. "Government agencies can benefit from thousands of hours of specialized personnel volunteering to serve their country. Moreover, capability and capacity to make a real difference in the lives of those around us. Giving’ is easy and abundant’ it is feeding a bird, smiling at your neighbors, or going above and beyond at your job. If you are a person with power and responsibility, ‘giving’ is making your people happy, and being kind to them when you implement laws.
Initiatives for the year of giving 2017
There are many initiatives for the year 2017
Firstly: ’emaratalyom’ newspaper has 6 Initiatives and in this report I talk about 4 of them, those Initiatives is
1- Cancer patients (Maktoum, 2017)
There are many people suffer from cancer Including children and elder and some of them don't have money for treatment, causing them serious complications for that ’emaratalyom’ cooperation with some of the businessman and private sector to pay for the treatment.
2- Dubai Autism Center
The Autism Center project is being implemented in Al-Garhoud to receive 280 children, but due to the cessation of donations, the construction of the project has stopped. The ’emaratalyom’ launched a fundraising campaign to complete the project before 2017.
3- Workers' meals
The emaratalyom is launching an initiative to provide and distribute food to workers, taxi drivers, garden workers and cleaners. The newspaper cooperates with the Gloria Hotel and Al Fanar Restaurant to provide food for more than 200 workers in a month.
4- Study fees
A large number of students suffer from inability to pay the teaching fees. The newspaper cooperates with the Ministry of Education, private universities, charities and private institutions to pay teaching fees for students.
Secondly: The Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has launched seven initiatives in the year of giving, I will talk about 4 of them:
1- Global Contributions initiative
Which include identifying several poor countries to donate to students by providing school buses or bicycles that facilitate access to their schools in coordination with international charities such as UNICEF and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
2- Paid training program
Authority has launched a 6-month paid training program to assist 30 new graduates by working in the core areas of the Authority such as finance, marketing, customer service and advice from the Authority's leadership. At the end of the program, the participant will receive a certificate of experience from the Authority.
3- Wheelchair with disabilities’
Which aims to enable children with motor disabilities to live independently and help them to arrive at any place.
4- Dirham Khair"
Is an optional donation for the employees of the Authority and the users of vehicles when renewing the ownership of the vehicle or issuing a driver's license and Nol card holders to donate only one Dirham upon completion of any transaction with the Authority.
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