We are with you 911 Or 998
/ Civil Defense / Civil Protection / Volunteering

Volunteering

  • A-
  • A
  • A+

 

• Volunteering
- Introduction
- The beginnings of the volunteering in the civil defense
- Real experience of volunteering work
- Regulations and lists issued concerning volunteerism
- Future Vision

- The participation of the civil defense in the Saudi II volunteering conference.
- The Saudi Society for volunteer services: a proposed model.

• Introduction:
As everyone knows, volunteering is an absolute honored humanitarian work that is not tied to place, time, and specie… but if man was to choose and responsible at the same time concerning implementing this work if he didn’t volunteer in any special in a governmental or civilian authority. And this work comes from our faith, which urges to do more good in order to get closer to the Almighty Creator. As it is shown in the verses in the Koran (and cooperate in righteousness and piety and do not cope for sin and aggression). And honest conversations of the Prophet Mohammad peace be upon him (such as believers in their sympathy, is like the body in which if one organ complained it will be reflected on the whole body in fever and awakens.
According to this, and to the subjects of the civil defense that are issued by the Royal number m / 10 on the date 10/05/1406.. It has been prepared (the list of volunteers for the work of the civil defense, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia), that aim towards regulating volunteering work and to benefit from those who have the desire in this charity work to participate with the civil defense forces after they are being prepared scientifically and practically. This list also included several articles specialized in organizing the volunteering work in terms of conditions, rights, duties, and other regulations.

• The emergence and the beginnings of the volunteer in the civil defense:
1) In 1387 that resembles the year 1967, the General Directorate of Civil Defense and for the first time requested to all the citizens to volunteer in the work of the civil defense through its Administrations in the regions, during the War of the Six Days through which some Arab countries were attacked. This call was not compulsory but optional directed by the guidance of the senior leadership of the armed forces in case of any emergency. And the citizens drove in with high spirit to this volunteering work. Their first session was held in the police school in Mecca, from 1-20/3/1387 after they were accepted. A group of them had undergone a training concerning theoretical and practical firefighting as well as light rescue operations. In addition to this, they have undergone some simple lessons in the field of ambulance as a promotion for their motivation to the volunteering work. And then, they were given an appreciation certificates. This was the beginning of the road and the first experience of volunteering in Saudi Arabia.
2) The first organization for the management and rehabilitation of volunteers on 01/05/1406.
3) A civil defense system Royal Decree No. M / 10 in 10/05/1406 that specified in paragraph (b) of the First Article that one of the tasks of the civil defense is to prepare the volunteers to carry out the acts of the civil defense. Also it was defined in paragraph (c) of the Third Article that it should be taken into consideration in the implementation of the civil defense work that is defined under the First Article of the volunteers in civil defense, and paragraph (f) also identified of the Article IX that the Council of the civil defense is responsible in the issuance of the necessary regulations to organize the work of the volunteers, and to determine their own terms, rights, and duties. The eighteenth article also included that every person even if he wasn’t a volunteers is considered responsible for providing assistance to the Kingdom that is necessary for the operations of the civil defense in the essential situations.
Therefore, it was an obligatory for the General Directorate of the Civil Defense to begin the implementation of these materials and to prepare a general project to benefit from the volunteers.
4) A set of administrative regulations were issued, responsible for the management of the volunteers. And the most important was the formation of the administration of the volunteer’s affairs in the year 1407, and linking it to the Civil Protection.
5) In the year 1407, the idea of benefiting from the volunteers started to be applied for the pilgrimage season, and for the first time in the history of the civil defense. They started accepting the citizens to get engaged in the volunteering work, and then through the branches of the civil defense in the zones where there was registering and accepting the qualified ones to become a volunteer during the pilgrimage mission, and according to an annual plan that is prepared to receive and employ the Volunteers in this task. Their participation continued up till this date.
6) The general managers in the Civil Defense Council of the Gulf Cooperation discussed the idea of the unified system draft of volunteerism and volunteers of the Council Countries, and they recommended to work towards this idea. And according to this recommendation, their Royal Highnesses and the Interior Ministers in the Gulf Cooperation Council decided in their seventh meeting that was held in Riyadh on Monday, November 7, 1988 mandated the General Directorate of the Civil Defense in Saudi Arabia to prepare a unified system draft of volunteerism and volunteers for the Council Countries. Therefore, the Directorate prepared the draft of the project in which it explained the tasks and the rights and duties of the volunteers. And it provided the Member States with this draft to give their comments about it after its being reviewed. Their Royal Highnesses and the Interior Ministers of the GCC in the year 21-22/11/1993 m approved the guiding unified system draft of volunteerism and volunteer for the work of the Civil Defense in the Cooperation Council of Arab Gulf states to be the pilot system for three years.
7) According to the implementation to the decent directives concerning the follow up to the completion of the plans of the government authorities that are responsible for facing emergency., this recommendation was summarized in the importance of benefiting from the volunteers and be in accordance with specific procedures and controls.
8) The Civil Service Council approved the proposal about the coverage of Saudi Volunteering Staff in the work of the civil defense and interior relief according to the Civil Service Council organized decision of the exterior relief which allows the Saudi Employee to be absent from his work in order to participate in the work of foreign relief with full pay in according to a certain criteria.
9) Finally, an administrative decision was issued on the adoption of the restructuring of the Department of the volunteers affairs.

• Real experience of volunteering
1) The volunteers contributed positively during the second crisis of the Gulf as a response to the Server of the Two Holy Mosques in the 1411. They were trained on the work of the civil defense, in addition to this they helped in filling the vacuum caused by the employment that left the country because of the war conditions. As well as, a large number of bus drivers were attracted and who had been hired to evacuate the citizens in the city of Khafji. Based on this, the Royal Order was issued approving the compliment to the military staff, the employees, and the volunteered citizens. And according to this they were granted the (the security medal) to all the volunteers working with the General Directorate of the Civil Defense, and who directing the job during the period from 11/01/1411 until 01/10/1411.
2) The preparation of a general plan on how to make use of the volunteers and their involvement with the civil defense groups in daily incidents, emergencies cases, disasters, and wars.
3) The issue of the list of volunteers for civil defense works in Saudi Arabia Kingdom after it is being adopted by His Royal Highness the Prime Minister of the Interior, the President of the Civil Defense Council, following the example of civil provisions of the civil defense system.
4) Adoption of the guide to how to form the voluntary groups in the private sector facilities, and circulating it to all the ministries and stakeholders.
5) The dispatch of a certain number of the officers of the General Directorate of the Civil Defense to a number of foreign affected countries within the delegation of the Saudi Red Crescent Society to participate in the relief operations that are provided to those affected.
6) Coordinating with the international organizations that are related to the volunteers and the work of the civil defense to take advantage of their experience in the field of volunteerism, and to assign a number of civil defense specialists for field visits to some countries which preceded us in this regard to benefit from what they have in the field of volunteerism.
7) To prepare of an annual plan to benefit of volunteers’ work during pilgrimage task.
8) Prepare application forms for accepting the volunteers (general, specialist) to apply during the admission and registration of the volunteers, as well as the issuance of the personal identity cards.
9) To prepare the scientific lecture for the qualifying and refreshing session for the volunteers to undergo.
10) Development of the computer program which contains all the required information about the volunteers, how to contact them, and to call them quickly.
11) Set a number of the subjects in the Civil Defense website on the Internet to clarify the role of the volunteers in the General Directorate of Civil Defense.
12) Due to the importance of taking advantage of the graduates of the General Organization for Technical Education and Vocational Training, the rules and the regulations have been prepared which ensure the use of the civil defense of this category such as the volunteers in the emergency situations.
13) To organize the participation of the students of the Technical Institute for health training in the field of ambulance and emergency with the General Directorate of the Civil Defense, and to utilize of their specialization as a medical evacuate during the pilgrimage season since 1422 up to date.
14) The preparation of a training program for the volunteers under the name of (the qualifying session, refreshing session, intensive session in the state of emergency and war).

• Laws, regulations, and instructions issued concerning volunteerism:
1) The civil defense system.
2) The list of volunteers for the work of the civil defense in the Saudi Arabia Kingdom.
3) Plan to benefit from the volunteers and their involvement with and civil defense groups in daily incidents, emergencies, disasters, and wars.
4) To guide on how to form the voluntary groups in the facilities of the private sector.
5) The unified system of volunteerism and the preparation of the volunteers for the work of the civil defense in the GCC.
6) Rules and regulations that establish the benefit of the Volunteers of the General Organization for Technical Education and Vocational Training with the civil defense in the cases of emergency.

• The list of the volunteers for civil defense work in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
The importance of the need to have a system or a list for the regulation of the voluntary work through which the tasks and duties, rights and conditions of admission are identified. Therefore, it was necessary to prepare a list of the volunteers, according to what is mentioned in the system of the civil defense that was issued by the Royal Decree No. M / 10 on 10/05/1406. And after returning to the system and taking a view about the systems and regulations, which is used by some of the countries that preceded us in this field with the participation of the specialists in the field of volunteerism. A list of the volunteers was issued due to a decision of His Royal Highness the Prime Minister of the Interior, the President of the Civil Defense Council No. 12/02/and/01 in 15/01/1422 which contains:
1) Terms to accept those who have the will to volunteer.
2) Classification of the volunteers (general, specialist).
3) Fields in which the volunteer participate.
4) Training of the volunteers.
5) Obligations, rights and benefits.
6) Other materials.

• The project system of volunteering, in the Saudi Arabia Kingdom (proposal):
According to the direction of His Royal Highness, a committee has been formed in the Ministry of the Interior at a high-level with the participation of representatives from some government departments concerned in studying the creation of a comprehensive system to volunteer, in order to benefit from it all the government and civil sides in attracting the volunteers to work with them, after the preparation of the regulations to take advantage of them in its functions and activities according to the attribute of this system. The General Directorate of Civil Defense has charged with the Secretariat of this Committee.
The Committee has prepared a draft about the project after extensive studies and returns to many of the applied regulations in some Western and Arab countries that are concerned with matters of volunteerism and volunteers, developing useful things and subjecting it to what goes with the requirements of volunteering that we have in the Kingdom in a scientific way. In the near future, if Allah wills this project will be lifted to decision-makers to consider its adoption.

• Future Vision
1) Reactivating the Global System of Volunteers in the Kingdom (which is considered to be in its final stages) that is prepared by a Commission consisting from the authorized parts according to the direction of His Royal Highness, for the benefit of all the sides in the use of the volunteers within its competence and according to the regulations that are prepared for this purpose and which is derived from this system.
2) The preparation of a broad media campaign aiming towards delivering the concept of volunteering to the citizen and the resident in an easy and clear way, through the media. In addition to the preparation of the information brochures and flyers to be distributed to the citizens and residents in public places and events.
3) Discussing the idea of making a special one day of each year (for all the sectors of education, job, government, and private), through which the continue to disseminate the concept of volunteerism, its goals, and objectives to the staff of those parties, after the preparation of the appropriate scientific article for this and updating according to the demands of the situation.
4) Pave the way for volunteering throughout the year for the General Directorate of Civil Defense benefit from the services of the volunteers in the various incidents according to their proficiency.
5) Prepare an appropriate program for the registration of the volunteers through the website of the General Directorate of Civil Defense on the Internet to facilitate the procedures of their admission and registration.
6) Prepare continuous sites for the training of the volunteers (year round) on the functions and tasks of the General Directorate of the Civil Defense in all the training centers related to it and that are deployed in all the regions of the Kingdom.