SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT - UAE Interact

222U N I T E D A R A B E M I R AT E S Y E A R B O O K 2 0 0 8Voluntary workrepresents theembodiment of Islamicand social values inUAE society and theimportance ofvolunteerism inenhancing socialsolidarity andcontributing to theprocess of socialdevelopment is widelyrecognised.cohesiveness of the UAE family. The strategy also promotes theconcept of community and social partnership. This is to beachieved by motivating local societies, institutions and individualsto provide social services and to create partnerships with theprivate sector.Initiatives to realise this objective include enacting legislationand special regulations for the assimilation of members of societywith special needs and other beneficiaries into the developmentprocess; increasing rehabilitation and training programmes inpartnership with other local and private bodies; training socialwelfare beneficiaries and preparing them for the job market;launching joint programmes between federal and local socialcare bodies to ensure service integrity; increasing and initiatingfamily extension and awareness programmes; providing financialassistance to the needy; enacting legislation and laws to encouragelocal institutions, individuals and the private sector to providesocial services; inaugurating a prize/award for the best socialdevelopment initiatives and institutions.SOCIAL WELFARE ASSOCIATIONSVoluntary work represents the embodiment of Islamic and socialvalues in UAE society and the importance of volunteerism inenhancing social solidarity and contributing to the process of socialdevelopment is widely recognised. Accordingly, the Governmenthas encouraged and promoted voluntary work by supportingvoluntary and humanitarian organisations and has implementedlegislation to regulate their services to the public. For their part,voluntary and charitable organisations in the UAE, among whichthe UAE Red Crescent is most prominent, have given generously tosocial welfare services and development programmes covering suchareas as medical aid, student sponsorship, disability, special care,health care, the welfare of prisoners and lump-sum aid programmes.The UAE Red Crescent is the largest charitable organisation inthe country and a major international relief agency (see Foreign Aidin the section on Government for an account of its international aid).Humanitarian and charitable development programmes costing