The 26th World Volunteer Conference, being hosted in Abu Dhabi for the first time in the UAE from24th to 27thOctober, 2022, has officially opened registration channels for attendees. Under the theme of “Volunteering for the Common Good: Making Life Better for People and Communities”, the event is expected to attract up to 1,000 participants from more than 100 countries, representing global stakeholders within the volunteer community, including leaders, civil society organizations, government agencies, academia and businesses. The hosting of the conference was awarded to Abu Dhabi, making it the first capital in the Middle East to host this global conference, from a short-list of three cities.
Hosting the conference is evidence of the UAE, and especially Abu Dhabi’s, pioneering status as a center of humanitarian, social and volunteering work that drew media attention from all over the world to the values, culture and identity of the UAE. It also shed light on its role as a successful model in the empowerment of youth on an international level, alongside the huge technologic leap that has taken place in the State, which was utilized to establish new social and volunteering platforms to channel the power of the Emirati Youth to become involved socially, and to become leaders in humanitarian and volunteering efforts, following the wise directives of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.
The International Association for Volunteer Effort (IAVE) unanimously selected Abu Dhabi as the host city for the 26th World Volunteer Conference, the largest global gathering of volunteering experts and practitioners, which will be hosted jointly by IAVE and Emirates Foundation, the national organization of the UAE set up by the Abu Dhabi Government to facilitate public-private funded initiatives to strengthen community resilience.
The conference aims to create an environment that encourages networking, a sharing of knowledge, and continuous learning for all those who believe in the tenet that volunteering improves their communities and the lives of those who volunteer, and is a strategic asset in the accomplishment of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
His Excellency Ahmed Al Shamsi, CEO of Emirates Foundation, expressed his delight at the choice of Abu Dhabi as the venue, saying, “After the great success of the Global Volunteering Leadership Summit that we hosted in December 2021, we are very much looking forward to hosting the 26th World Volunteer Conference this October, after it was postponed from 2020 due to the pandemic. Volunteers are the backbone of any society, they are the soldiers that support the development of countries; their passion, spirit of giving, commitment and love for what they do guarantees success in all their endeavours.”
His Excellency added, “We are thrilled to be hosting this amazing event: it will attract around 1,000 knowledgeable participants from over 100 countries who will be proudly representing stakeholders of the world’s volunteer community, and who will bear witness to the UAE’s well-earned reputation as the land of giving.”
His Excellency concluded by saying that Emirates Foundation is honoured to play a major role in shaping, guiding and delivering innovative volunteering programs that increasingly encourage community members to volunteer, with far-reaching national impact.
Nichole Cirilo, Executive Director of IAVE, said that the theme for this year’s event accurately reflects IAVE’s belief that collectively the world’s volunteering is an expression of civic engagement that has at its heart action that is shared and beneficial for all, adding, “It is no coincidence that the theme for this event is ‘Volunteering for the Common Good: Making Life Better for People and Communities’. At the 2022 World Volunteer Conference, IAVE and the Emirates Foundation will celebrate the noble gift of volunteering, acknowledging that volunteer engagement and volunteering leadership is needed more than ever to help address the world’s most pressing challenges, and to encourage volunteerism as an important part of creating a more equal and inclusive future for all.”
The 26th World Volunteer Conference will attract delegates, speakers and panelists from volunteer organisations all over the world to take part in a full agenda of discussions, talks and panels that will highlight the important role of volunteers. Attendees will be able to learn from shared experiences, especially those arising from COVID-19, and how volunteers have played a key role in mitigating the direct and indirect consequences of the pandemic.
IAVE is the only international organization that connects volunteering leaderships, companies and NGOs. It is proud to have a substantial number of members, over 700 individuals and organizations across 100 countries all over the world under the umbrella of the common goal of supporting volunteerism, encouraging humanitarian work and endorsing the efforts of volunteers all over the world.
The IAVE Conference is the main gathering point for volunteer leaders from around the world and is held every two years, as a symposium on volunteerism and its contribution to resolving humanitarian and social challenges. The event is attended by some 1,000 people from around the world, with the active participation of 100 countries.
The conference presents the opportunity for volunteers to attend general sessions with speakers seasoned in the fields of humanitarian aid and volunteerism, as well as forums that examine and discuss the challenges facing volunteer work, workshops designed to introduce new ideas and efficient methodologies, all to provide participants and attendees with the opportunity to join forces, network and find new and innovative solutions to the challenges while validating the efforts of volunteers all over the world at the same time.
The IAVE conference was held in Singapore in 2011, in London in 2012, in Australia’s Gold Coast in 2014, in “Mexico City” Mexico in 2016 and in Augsburg, Germany, in 2018.
Registration details and full information on the conference is available now on the event’s official website at www.wcvc2022.ae
