UAE among top 10 generous nations
dubai — The UAE has ranked among some of the world’s most generous countries when it comes to helping a stranger or donating money to those in need, coming ninth overall in a global poll commissioned by the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF).
Jumping one spot from its 10th place ranking in 2016, it seems the UAE’s ‘Year of Giving’ initiative has rubbed off on its residents, proving that the giving sentiment is on the rise here.
The UAE also had the distinction of being the only GCC nation to appear among the top 20 list this year.
Overall, the UAE has achieved a CAF World Giving Index score of 51 per cent, as compared to Myanmar (the top ranking country), which secured a score of 65 per cent.
With three main questions lying at the heart of the report, respondents were asked: Have you helped a stranger, or someone you didn’t know who needed help? Donated money to a charity? Volunteered your time to an organisation?
According to the findings, 71 per cent of people in UAE reported helping someone they didn’t know but that saw a four per cent drop from last year’s 75 per cent.
Additionally, 55 per cent of those polled said they had donated
The CAF World Giving Index shows that there has been a global decrease in giving since the last report.” statement, CAF World Giving Index
money to a charity, compared to 63 per cent last year, and 27 per cent admitted to volunteering their time to an organisation. That was a marked improvement on last year’s 21 per cent.
Despite scoring slightly less in two of the three categories as compared to the 2016 findings, the UAE managed to jump up one spot in the rankings this year due to the fact that on a global level, giving is down this year.
“The CAF World Giving Index shows that there has been a global decrease in giving since the last report”, the report reads.
According to this year’s findings, every Western country in the top 20 has a decreased score this year, including New Zealand, the United States, Australia, Canada, Ireland, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, among others.
Each of these countries has seen a decrease in their CAF World Giving Index score of between one and five percentage points.
Now in its eighth edition, the CAF World Giving Index presents giving data from across the globe over a five year period (20122016). The World Giving Index 2017 includes data from 139 countries that was collected throughout 2016.
Volunteering in the UAE
Though the UAE has again achieved a top 10 status across the globe when it comes to giv- ing, the report shows that it has scored high when it comes to helping strangers in need and donating money to charity, but there is an obvious lagging when it comes to donating personal time to volunteering.
But with a huge focus on volunteerism here in 2017, that is sure to change its ranking next year.
Back in June, the UAE Volunteers platform was launched to create an integrated and sustainable system for volunteering and to promote the value of volunteerism as one of the most important pillars of social cohesion, which is one of the national priorities of the UAE.
To coincide with the Year of Giving, Dubai Cares also announced earlier this year that it will be providing volunteering opportunities to 4,250 residents in the UAE throughout 2017.
Additionally, the Community Development Authority in Dubai (CDA) launched a new volunteering and community service policy to encourage the culture of volunteerism among high school and university students, as well as public and private sectors and the civil society.
kelly@khaleejtimes.com