The UAE's Federal Volunteering Law - What You Need to Know

Almost a year and a half ago, I wrote about the world's first law on regulation for volunteering. Today, I'm writing about the second law. A couple of months back, the United Arab Emirates published Federal Law number 13 of 2018, which oversees all volunteering in the United Arab Emirates. I'm going to summarize the big points of the law, which not only defines what volunteering is and the need to gain approval for any volunteering activity, but also sets out both sanctions and punishments for individuals and groups who don't follow the law.

What is Volunteering/a Volunteer?

The law defines volunteering as, "every individual or team activity that is non-profit or job-free charge aiming at achieving benefit for the other." A volunteer is, "every registered natural or legal person practising a volunteering work free of charge or job-free charge."

What are the Law's Goals?

The law has five basic aims:

1. To disseminate, promote and enhance the culture of the volunteer work and raise the awareness of its importance;
2. To regulate and develop the volunteer work;
3. To harmonise between the outcome of the volunteer work in state and the government guidelines and national agenda;
4. To enhance the diversity and innovation in the volunteering programmes and initiatives;
5. To adopt a unified approach for the volunteer work in state.

Volunteer Registration and Approval is a Must

Article five of the law is explicit. Volunteers must be registered with the Ministry, and the Ministry must approval all volunteering activities. While it's not stated in the law's text, this registry will be the website volunteers.ae, which is run by the Emirates Foundation. There's good news and bad news here. The good news is that this website is designed along the same lines as Dubai's Community Development Authority's volunteering site, so if you've used this before, you'll be able to work out how to use volunteers.ae. The bad news is that the two sites are separate, so you can't copy data from one to the other, or use one in lieu of the other.

Volunteering Obligations

There's a host of obligations, or duties, that must be provided to volunteers, and which they must adhere by. For those organizing volunteering activities, the list includes:

1. To provide the requirements of health and safety for the volunteers and the volunteering teams;
2. To secure the volunteers and the volunteering teams while practising the volunteer work, when necessary;
3. To qualify the volunteers and the volunteering teams by involving them in induction courses specialised in the volunteer work;
4. To specify the tasks required to be done by the volunteer and the volunteering team;
5. To provide the needs required to perform the task of the volunteer and the volunteering team;
6. To keep the confidentiality of the personal information of the volunteer and the volunteering team;
7. To make sure of the fulfilment of the volunteers and the volunteering teams therewith to the registration, according to provisions of this Law.

For volunteers, their duties are spelled out below:

1. Punctuality and working in the one team spirit according to requirements of the volunteer work;
2. Adherence to all instructions issued to them and implementation of all tasks assigned to them;
3. Commitment of the charter of volunteer work;
4. Commitment to the legislations applicable in state;
5. Keeping the confidentiality of the information and data that were accessed while conducting their volunteering tasks;
6. Updating their personal data;
7. Adherence to the task and its objectives and respecting the policy, systems and regulations of the authority regulating the volunteer work and preserving its property;
8. Notifying the authority regulating the volunteer work upon suspending the volunteer work;
9. Not to offer, provide, promote or advertise any goods or services during the volunteer work that gain financial benefits or personal earnings;
10. Returning whatever they received as a trust, such as tools and equipment and devices, upon the termination of the volunteer work;

11. Commitment to the instructions of security and safety.

Punishments and Fines

Unlike Dubai's law, which doesn't explicitly set out sanctions, the Federal law states a set of punishments for those who don't follow the law. Those people who are in violation will receive a warning (either verbal or written), suspension from volunteer work for a proscribed period, or a termination of their ability to volunteer in the country.

The fines are also specific, and include:

1. A minimum ten thousand Dirham fine (rising to 100,000 Dirhams) for those practicing volunteering inside or outside the state in violation to provisions of this Law and its Executive Regulation;
2. A minimum thirty thousand Dirham fine for anyone disclosing confidential information or data that he got while performing his volunteering tasks;
3. A minimum 50,000 Dirham fine for anyone raising funds for volunteering without the consent of the Ministry.

The Full Text of the Law

If you're looking for a full English translation, please do drop me a note and I'll send you the document. There's been no promotion of this new law, and I do hope that the Ministry of Community Development does reach out to volunteers, charities and organizations that promote volunteering to explain how this law will affect their work.