Emirates Foundation enlists 2,000 volunteers to be part of the success story of EXPO 2020 Dubai

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: Emirates Foundation, the national organization that facilitates public-private funded initiatives to unite social responsibility in the interest of community resilience across the UAE, is providing close to 2,000 volunteers taking part in the success story of the largest global event ever to be held in the region, EXPO 2020 Dubai. This comes as part of its commitment to providing all necessary support to the organizers, participating entities and the pavilions of countries participating in the event while giving local and international individuals of all nationalities the valuable opportunity to volunteer to take part in a regional “first” through the volunteers.ae platform.

The online platform received thousands of requests from across all sectors of society, from which Emirates Foundation was able to select some 2,000 volunteers to be assigned to the UAE Pavilion under the theme of “The Land of Dreamers Who Do”, the Gulf Cooperation Council Pavilion, the Saudi Arabian Pavilion, alongside the United Nations Hub (#UNHub) located in the Opportunity Pavilion - Mission Possible, and other events taking place at the Expo. 

H.E. Ahmed Taleb Al Shamsi, CEO of Emirates Foundation, confirmed that the organization was pleased to be contributing to this spectacular global event and to be part of EXPO 2020 Dubai's success story, saying: “The youth of the nation have expressed their willingness to take action, giving their time and support in all local and global forums. We would like to express how proud we are of all our volunteers and their efforts and how generous they are, and wish them all the best in their journey at EXPO 2020 Dubai.”

Al Shamsi added that the untiring task forces at volunteer.ae have successfully attracted, trained, managed and allocated thousands of volunteers to the pavilions and they are now performing tasks that will run over the full six months of the first-of-its-kind EXPO in the region, confirming the importance of the platform’s role as the first and largest national volunteer platform.

All the volunteers have undergone training courses through the Emirates Foundation e-Learning platform and their tasks across the UAE, GCC, KSA and United Nations pavilions at EXPO Dubai 2020 will cover many specialties, including hospitality, content, events, visitor management coordinators, customer service, protocol and VIP services, school visit services, questionnaire services, VIP logistics, client services and guides.

Meanwhile, Engineer Hussain Hanbazazah, the Commissioner-General of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Pavilion, said: “We thank the Emirates Foundation for its effective support in training and enrolling the Saudi male and female volunteers, providing them with the required knowledge and skills to communicate with the pavilion’s visitors and helping them with any required information. Since the launch of the pavilion, we have witnessed first-hand the efficiency of Emirates Foundation and its ability to provide the volunteers with the necessary skills to welcome our guests in a way that reflects our tradition and culture in hospitality. It is a privilege for us to work together and we hope that our cooperation will continue in everything that enhances the success of the Kingdom’s participation at EXPO 2020 Dubai.”

The deployment of volunteers by the Emirates Foundation in support of the UN Hub comes in agreement with the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office in the UAE and the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme, who are also jointly deploying international UN Volunteer specialists to manage the UN Hub programming.

The Foundation’s Takatof Program is also providing a number of specialized volunteers who are working at the Aqdar World Summit which will be held from October 24th to October 30th during the EXPO. Here, volunteers’ efforts are focused on guiding visitors, working as IT specialists, network engineers, dialogue session organizers and translators in Chinese, Russian and Hebrew.

As EXPO 2020 Dubai gets into full swing, Emirates Foundation confirmed that the major efforts of its volunteer groups at the volunteers.ae platform have succeeded in bringing together a group of skilled volunteers who will serve as Expo ambassadors, providing all forms of support to visitors, where for six months, the eyes of the world will be focused on the United Arab Emirates and EXPO 2020 Dubai, representing the UAE's extraordinary experience in front of the world at the largest global cultural gathering in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia.

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About Emirates Foundation

Emirates Foundation was established on the 12^th of April 2005, as an initiative of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. The Foundation is chaired by His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

Emirates Foundation is a national institution working in partnership with the public and private sectors to implement initiatives and establish the concept of social responsibility through research-based programs that meet the needs of the state on its path to sustainable community development.

The Foundation is mandated to identify and understand the challenges facing Emirati society and works towards creating appropriate opportunities for the development of national competencies and the activation of their role in society through smart platforms, while developing an effective and data-accurate model of social development needs.

For more information on Emirates Foundation, please contact:
Wael Sarieddine
Phone: +971 55 1077949
Email: wael.sarieddine@viola.ae 

© Press Release 2021