The Department of Community Development announced its partnership with the Emirates Foundation to introduce Neighbourhood Volunteer Teams, an initiative designed to mobilise residents for targeted local projects that enhance social cohesion. The program forms part of broader efforts under the UAE Year of Community, focusing on empowering individuals to contribute directly within their residential areas. Department of Community Development officials emphasised that participants will receive training to identify and resolve neighbourhood-specific challenges ranging from environmental upkeep to support for vulnerable groups.
Year of Community figures show volunteer hours this year reached a financial value of more than 124 million dirhams, reflecting a 14.7 percent increase from the prior period alongside a 22.7 percent rise in the number of volunteers compared with 2024. The Emirates Foundation, which established its national volunteering platform in 2017 in partnership with what was then the Ministry of Community Empowerment, will provide operational support for the new teams through established programs including Takatof for general volunteering and Sanid for emergency response. This infrastructure enables seamless integration of the Neighbourhood Volunteer Teams into existing volunteer ecosystems.
Neighbourhood Volunteer Teams will operate at the grassroots level, encouraging participants to develop projects tailored to the unique requirements of their immediate communities, according to a joint statement from the two entities. The Department of Community Development highlighted that such localised involvement fosters greater ownership and long-term sustainability in community development activities. Teams are expected to collaborate on initiatives that align with national priorities while responding to on-the-ground realities in various emirates.
Emirates Foundation data places the foundation at the forefront of volunteering promotion since its launch of multiple platforms that have connected thousands of residents to service opportunities over the past decade. The new collaboration extends those efforts by creating dedicated neighbourhood units that build on the success of programs such as Ne’ma for food sustainability and Active Abu Dhabi for wellness. Foundation representatives described the teams as a practical extension of ongoing work to strengthen civic responsibility nationwide.
The Ministry of Community Empowerment has reported steady growth in volunteering participation, with the sector contributing to both social welfare and economic value through organised activities. Launch of the Neighbourhood Volunteer Teams adds a targeted mechanism for residents to engage without requiring travel to centralised sites, broadening access across urban and suburban locations. Officials from both the Department of Community Development and Emirates Foundation indicated that monitoring frameworks will track impact to refine future iterations of the program.
