RIYADH, 15 March 2007 — The need for organizing voluntary work abroad, especially in Europe and the United States, was highlighted at the Second Conference on Voluntary Work which concluded here yesterday.

“This is very important for us in our modern age,” said Saleh Al-Wohaibi, secretary-general of the World Assembly for Muslim Youth (WAMY).

Al-Wohaibi was speaking during the symposium titled “Volunteer Work in Propagation Centers”. He said there was a dire need for establishing a special agency that looks over voluntary work.

Speaking about difficulties in voluntary work abroad, Al-Wohaibi cited the volunteers’ lack of understanding of their responsibilities. “Some volunteers tell us that they should not be dealt with like employees. They should know that even as volunteers they must adhere to certain work ethics,” he said, adding that if and when a nationwide program for voluntary work was issued, this problem would end.

Secondly, he cited the lack of clear regulations to organize volunteer work in the Kingdom. “Our institutions and organizations need to develop official frameworks to accept volunteers,” he said.

He said that if a volunteer died or was hurt during relief work abroad, there are no regulations that specify the procedures to be followed.

Thirdly, he said the lack of a system for accepting volunteers in the Kingdom’s charitable associations.

Al-Wohaibi said WAMY had received over 2,000 volunteers all over the Kingdom. “That number is actually 150 percent more than the number of WAMY employees in the Kingdom, which is 500,” he said.

WAMY, he said, had great difficulty organizing such a large posse of volunteers in the absence of regulations.

The US-led forces in Afghanistan had arrested over 150 Saudi citizens on the Afghani-Pakistani border shortly after it toppled the Taleban regime in 2001.

The conference made several recommendations including the creation of a medallion named after Custodian of Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah to be awarded to an outstanding volunteer each year. It also called for the establishment of a fund for volunteer work which would be financed from endowments and zakah.

The participants stressed the need to establish a database for volunteer work in Saudi Arabia. They also said Saudi volunteers should gain from the experience of international relief agencies.