Voluntary Work

Giving back has been a part of our community and culture since earlier times. It has been said that the giving of one’s time to others is the best gift one can give. While volunteering can take many forms and serve different aspects of the community, it also offers vital help to people in need, supporting worthwhile causes, and even advocating necessary support to the whole community.

The benefits of volunteering are enormous and can have a great impact on the bonding of society, and even on the volunteers themselves. Some of the potential benefits of volunteering can be:

Offering support and help to people in need
Supporting worthwhile causes, and being part of a community
Encourages socializing and networking
Helps with career networking and can help in advancing your career
Taking up new skills, and helps enhance and nurture your existing skills

Volunteering organizations in Bahrain

The Kingdom has an array of volunteering organizations and centres, each of which serves a different purpose, cause, and audience.

In 2020, The National Volunteering Platform was launched. The platform provides details of diverse volunteering opportunities available within the Kingdom of Bahrain.

The National Volunteering Platform is one of the winning projects within the government innovation competition, Fikra, launched by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and Prime Minister. The platform aims to foster:

National Unity: promoting a sense of belonging, responsibility and tolerance
Support: Through creating an environment conducive to volunteering
Connectivity: By connecting volunteers to opportunities

The platform has hosted two volunteering initiatives since its launch:

Volunteering Organizations

In order to encourage entities to participate in the field of social development and enhance their contributions to economic development, the Ministry of Labour and Social Development has launched the Voluntary Work Development Center. The centre was created based on the actual need in Bahraini society to monitor volunteer opportunities and the available prospects to invest in potential volunteers who show keenness toward social and economic work, in addition to bridging the gap between volunteer opportunities and their desires.

Moreover, the Royal Humanitarian Foundation seeks to carry out charity and philanthropic works, undertake a humanitarian, social and economic role for the benefit of citizens, as well as contribute to the development of a spirit of solidarity to promote philanthropy and support the needy groups in the Kingdom. The foundation also provides people with a chance to volunteer to help out with their initiatives.

On another note, in support of the youth, the Information & eGovernment Authority (iGA) in collaboration with the Ministry of Youth Affairs launched the eShabab mobile application. The application displays a varied list of events, programs and activities provided by (MYA) for the youth to choose from. Apart from the ability to register for the youth programs, the application also enables the submission of volunteering requests through the “Sawaed” service available for users between 15- 30 years of age to assist with the youth programmes.

Other programs and NGOs as well have risen to facilitate the contribution towards multiple sectors including environmental protection which is manifested towards voluntary help in cleaning up and recycling the waste in public spaces in the Kingdom in support of the 12th SDG goal of ensuring sustainable consumption and production patterns, aiming towards reducing waste and the global material footprint.

Moreover, other societies have risen in the kingdom offering assistance to individuals and families in need addressing social welfare, other's well-being, and helping the ones in need.

Also, several societies have taken up animal protection by taking stray and neglected animals into their care while providing the necessary needs towards them.

Volunteering During COVID-19

With the outbreak of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) in early 2020, the National Taskforce for Combating the Coronavirus (COVID-19) announced the introduction of volunteering opportunities to support the Kingdom’s national efforts to Combat the Coronavirus (COVID-19) via the National Volunteering Platform. The opportunities range from medical and administrative services to logistic support, as well as a number of other activities aimed at supporting the Kingdom’s efforts in containing COVID-19. This platform comes in support of the 3rd Goal of the Sustainable Development Goal “Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages”.

Best Volunteer Project Award

The Award is held under the patronage of the Undersecretary of the Cabinet Affairs Ministry and Good Word Society’s (Arabic only) Honorary President, HH Shaikh Isa bin Ali Al Khalifa.

This award is intended to recognize Bahraini frontline competencies who have contributed to alleviating the impacts of the novel coronavirus pandemic in the kingdom and shed light on creative initiatives and inspiring success stories of Bahraini youth whose projects have reflected positively on the nation and society in the midst of the spread of COVID-19.

View the National Caders at Frontline’s live broadcast (Arabic only).