Volunteering in the Kingdom

Volunteering in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia refers to the efforts and services provided by individuals voluntarily without compensation through civil society institutions in the Kingdom, across various fields. The Voluntary Service Law for 2020 defines voluntary service as any effort or work voluntarily carried out by a natural or legal person to serve and grow the community. A volunteer is defined as a person who carries out voluntary service without requiring financial or moral compensation.

Voluntary work in the Kingdom is carried out locally through numerous public benefit associations and internationally through the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center, which represents the Kingdom's humanitarian and relief external arm. The center focuses on training and empowering volunteers in humanitarian work to achieve Saudi Vision 2030. This includes humanitarian sectors such as healthcare, environment, community support, shelter, and logistics.

The Kingdom supports all voluntary and humanitarian activities, placing them within institutional frameworks operating according to the Voluntary Service Law. There are about one thousand non-profit organizations and associations in the Kingdom. The government works on developing its basic structures and regulations to expand the areas benefiting from the development sector. The Kingdom celebrates the Saudi Volunteer Day annually on December 5.

Volunteers in the Kingdom are increasing as the value of volunteering and the desire for community and national service grows. In 2019, the total number of volunteers (Saudi and non-Saudi) reached 14.7 percent of the total population of the Kingdom aged fifteen and above. The percentage of Saudi volunteers (both male and female) to the Saudi population aged fifteen and above was 16.8 percent.

With the increasing value of volunteering in society and the growing number of volunteers, the Kingdom has worked to enhance these humanitarian efforts, aiming to reach one million volunteers by the end of 2030. To achieve this goal, the National Volunteer Portal was launched in 2020. This portal aims to regulate and empower volunteering by connecting volunteering opportunities providers with volunteers and documenting volunteering efforts.

The National Volunteer Portal has contributed to organizing and enriching volunteering. It serves as a Saudi hub for volunteering activities, providing a secure environment that facilitates and regulates the relationship between volunteering opportunities providers and volunteers in the Kingdom. The portal works on linking (integration) to the National Information Center, providing easy access for volunteers to volunteer opportunities, monitoring and documenting volunteer hours, and providing specialized volunteer opportunities with a social and economic impact.

According to the volunteering indicators for 2022, the National Volunteer Portal provided 156,000 volunteering opportunities. It has 1,253,398 registered individuals and 5,215 registered entities offering volunteering opportunities. The number of unique male and female volunteers reached 658,036, while the total number of volunteers, including repeats, amounted to 5,413,821. During 2022, 373,395 volunteering opportunities were implemented across twenty volunteering fields, totaling 39,986,793 completed volunteering hours benefiting 65 million beneficiaries from various regions of the Kingdom. The general volunteering rate reached 44.5 percent, with skilled volunteering at 35 percent and professional volunteering at 20.5 percent. The economic value of each volunteering hour rose to SAR64.16 per person, achieving a financial return of SAR923,373,528.

As a motivation for volunteers in the Kingdom and to affirm the value of their humanitarian, societal, and national efforts, the National Award for Voluntary Work was launched in July 2021. It serves as an effective tool to inspire and motivate volunteers in various community sectors. The award aims to motivate individuals and related sectors, stimulate volunteering practices, design and implement innovative volunteering initiatives that meet the needs of the community, as well as to strengthen and promote concepts and practices of sustainable voluntary work.

The award covers multiple and diverse sectors, targeting six main classes: governmental sector, private sector, non-profit third sector, higher and primary educational institutions, volunteer teams, and community individuals. The award has three tracks: volunteering projects, volunteer support, and dedicated volunteer hours for individuals.

Among the areas of voluntary work in the Kingdom, health volunteering stands out, where work is organized systematically through the Health Volunteering Platform. This online platform enables those seeking to volunteer to find opportunities in one place, whether they are healthcare practitioners or community members with a spirit of volunteering and serving the nation.