Civil Society Partnership

The section highlights the efforts of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to build an ambitious and integrated society through effective partnerships with civil society in the private sector and non-profit organizations, with the aim of achieving high GDP and economic growth that reflects on the quality of life and maximizes social impact in building a stable, balanced and unified country. Here, you will gain insight into the aim of partnerships with civil society, partnerships with non-profit organizations and the national initiatives available to support non-profit organizations.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia realizes that building an ambitious and integrated society is done through effective partnerships with civil society in the private sector and non-profit organizations. Thus achieving an increase in the domestic product and economic growth that is reflected in the quality of life and maximizing the social impact in building a stable, balanced and united nation.

The non-profit sector in the Kingdom

The non-profit sector in the Kingdom keeps pace with Vision 2030, which seeks to increase the sector’s contribution to the GDP to 5% and to raise the number of volunteers to one million male and female volunteers by 2030.
The sector contributes effectively to the development of various areas that serve the community and consolidates the culture of social responsibility, in addition to the fact that this sector is a key focus for achieving sustainable development in light of the continuous support witnessed by the Kingdom that enhances the values of humanitarian work for members of society through integration with various government agencies and maximizing their benefit.
There are 3,156 non-profit organizations in the Kingdom spread throughout the governorates and regions, seeking to implement social solidarity by providing various assistance to the poor and the needy and consolidating the principle of coexistence, tolerance, cooperation, solidarity and cohesion, especially in light of the global crises and pandemics that the world is witnessing.

Why do we volunteer?


National Center for Non-Profit Sector

The National Center for Non-Profit Sector was established by Cabinet Resolution No. (459) dated 11/8/1440 AH. The center aims to organize, activate and expand the role of non-profit sector organizations in the development fields, and work to integrate government efforts in providing licensing services to these organizations, financial, administrative and technical supervision of the sector, and increasing coordination and support.

Objective

Realizing the importance of the social entrepreneurship sector and its role in stimulating societal innovation and raising the level of economic and social conditions, public authorities work on the continuous development of these partnerships and move towards building strategic alliances that enhance joint action to achieve the goals of the Kingdom's Vision 2030.

Partnership with non-profit organizations

The Kingdom has an influential role and major contributions to charitable work through a group of state institutions, including the Social Development Sector in the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development and others. The responsibility of these institutions is to supervise civil bodies, such as charitable societies, institutions, cooperative societies, committees and centers for social and civil development, and the consolidation of these concepts among segments of society, in addition to supporting the establishment of funds that contribute to meeting societal and development needs.

The following sections summarize the National Initiatives to Support non-Profit Organizations:

Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture’s Initiatives

Udhwi (Organic): An initiative that aims at developing organic farming techniques to serve the environment and society. Cooperation is presented by providing electronic services for organic farms and farms under transition to organic farms in these areas:

  • Providing the Saudi national logo for organic products.
  • Providing the Saudi national logo for organic production inputs.
  • Providing direct support to the cultivated areas of organic and under-transition farms.
  • Providing support for documentation and inspection costs for organic and rms under transition to organic farms.

Tashjeer (Planting): Regulations that allow requesting to support environmental efforts in vegetation cover and participating in afforestation campaigns. It also provides the possibility of providing financial support to the Vegetation Fund.


Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development’s Initiatives

National Volunteer Portal: A Saudi incubator for volunteer work that provides a safe environment that serves and regulates the relationship between providers of volunteer opportunities and volunteers in the Kingdom.

The Societies' Financial Sustainability Fund: A non-profit fund was established in 2011 with a capital of 100 million riyals at the initiative and funding of the Sulaiman bin Abdulaziz Al-Rajhi Charitable Foundation and in strategic partnership with the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development. It aims to finance investment projects for charitable organizations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as a good loan with the aim of contributing to achieving the financial sustainability of these bodies.

Marketing Association: A civil association licensed by the Ministry of Human Resources, and it is a marketing platform for all practitioners and those who are interested. The association provides those who are interested in services to spread awareness of the science of marketing and its multiple applications, and support the career future of marketing professionals.

Electronic Commerce and Retail Association: A civil association licensed by the Ministry of Human Resources aims to develop scientific thought and educate the community about the concept of e-commerce. It provides awareness, education, studies, research services, programs and events, in addition to preparing platforms for practicing e-commerce.

 

Fikra (Idea) Association for Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship: An under-establishment civil association seeks to solve social problems and issues with innovative solutions in the form of a financially sustainable service or product, taking advantage of local resources in the community to maximize the positive impact by using concepts and ideas in commercial companies and the private sector to solve environmental, social and economic problems.

Business Women Association: An under-establishment civil association aims to empower women’s enterprises, develop and raise the efficiency of the performance of women’s business enterprises to ensure the continuity of the success of the operational processes and raise awareness and contributions of women to professional free work according to an integrated institutional methodology to practice their own business.

Franchise Association: A civil association that educates the community on the role and importance of franchising, prepares qualified national youth working in franchising projects, and encourages local scientific research in the field of franchising.

Attaa Organization (services to needy families): In partnership with the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, the Organization manages and directs the charitable sector for the services of needy families to benefit from its services, and aims at :

  • Achieving privacy in serving families.
  • Immediately Registering families and providing the necessary services for them.
  • Following  up on families' affairs and the developments and living conditions.
  • Establishing a unified database for charities.
  • Integrating the charitable work between associations.
  • Technically linking charitable societies and relevant government departments.

 

Al-Mawaddah Association for Family Development: It is a non-profit association licensed by the Ministry of Human Resources that enable the family to build sustainable and stable relationships through (providing programs, initiatives, and educational campaigns aimed at serving and stabilizing the community, building family capabilities, increasing family awareness, and creating an opportunity to empower the family) through a set of initiatives including:

  • an academy to enhance the family's skills in quality of life.
  • Itmae'n (be assured) Initiative for family counseling.
  • Protection of women and children.
  • Shaml (Joining) Initiative to implement the courts' decisions of visiting for separated families.
  • Al Hayat (Life) Academy for Women Empowerment.

Handasyah (Engineering) Charitable Society for Engineering Services: It is a non-profit association specializing in the engineering field, licensed by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It aims to provide engineering services to the third sector and work to develop it in a way that serves its interests and maximizes the charitable return of donors. The association seeks to achieve its goals that include:

  • Supervising and coordinating of urban, architectural, engineering, information and other studies.
  • Supervising the preparation of feasibility studies for charitable projects.
  • Coordinating supervision of implementation and processing works.
  • Coordinating supervision of planning and managing the implementation of maintenance and restoration work.
  • Supporting and encouraging studies and research that contribute to the development of the mechanisms and means concerned with the implementation of charitable projects in line with social, economic and environmental requirements.
  • Providing information and educational ideas to individuals and charities that help them achieve their goals.

Abdullah Ibrahim Al-Subaie Charitable Foundation: It is a donor institution that integrates with others to enable charitable work and create a developmental impact that contributes to achieving Vision 2030 through specific services and programs, types, and multiple grant areas to achieve multiple development goals.

Sulaiman bin Abdulaziz Al-Rajhi Charitable Foundation: In cooperation with the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, the Sulaiman Bin Abdulaziz Al-Rajhi Charitable Foundation provides many services, including but not limited to:

  • Financial support, including financial and in-kind grants for the beneficiary societies.
  • Knowledge support, including advisory services and management of charitable projects for donor agencies and institutions.
  • Building partnerships and alliances to solve societal issues and meet the needs of the Saudi regions.
  • Contributing to empowering the non-profit sector and building its capabilities through initiatives directed to the development and development of civil societies and institutions.
  • Contributing to the preparation of studies and research in the charitable field and the third sector for development and improvement.

Princess Seetah bint Abdulaziz Award for Excellence in Social Work: This award comes to encourage social charitable work that aims to provide aid and assistance to the needy, and the desire to find a prize for excellence in social work, bearing the name of Princess Seetah bint Abdulaziz, may God have mercy on her. The articles of association of the Foundation included that it has an independent legal personality that is not for financial profit. The Prizes' objectives are:

  • Establishing a culture of social, charitable, humanitarian and voluntary work, and reinforcing its noble values.
  • Rooting and developing social institutional work in all its forms.
  • Appreciating and encouraging distinguished people of both sexes in social work.
  • Motivating governmental and private bodies to excel and innovate in social work.
  • Supporting the Islamic endowment and encouraging it to be the first promoter of social work.
  • Highlight pioneering and distinguished initiatives.
  • Highlighting the bright aspects and the bright efforts for social work.
  • Governance of the social work system in all its fields.
  • Building a national heritage in social work.
  • Encouraging distinguished national achievements and social programs.
  • Promoting the concept of corporate social responsibility and support it to be an important promoter  of community development.

General Authority for Awqaf’s Initiatives

Endowment Investment funds: The General Authority for Awqaf (Endowments ) launched its first development initiatives, represented in the endowment investment funds project in cooperation with the Capital Market Authority. The funds aim to contribute to meeting societal and development needs, and to raise the non-profit sector's contribution to the GDP. They also adhere to the requirements contained in the investment funds regulations issued by the Commission Financial market.

Ministry of Justice's Initiatives

Shaml Initiative: The Ministry of Justice has provided specialized centers to facilitate the beneficiaries' implementation of custody and visiting decisions in the Kingdom, within a family-friendly environment and without the need for implementation in courts or police stations. It aims to:

  • Facilitating the implementation of custody and visiting decisions  for citizens in an environment suitable for family members (eligible centers).
  • Creating job opportunities in the field of community service.
  • Improving the level of cooperation between the Ministry of Justice, government agencies and the third sector in providing integrated services to serve the community.

Ministry of Health's Initiatives

Haroun Professional Volunteer Initiative: The community partnership agreement between the Ministry of Health and Bank Al-Jazira to train staff of health institutions and NGOs supports Haroun Professional Volunteer Initiative by investing the energies and professional competencies of people with specializations and skills working in the private sector and retirees, supporting 22 private health NGOs, besides an Academy for Professional Development and Policies and Research.

The Community Empowerment Initiative, whose role is to empower community members in the health reinforcement process. It does that by giving them a leadership role to formulate the health problems they face within their neighborhood, define priorities, make decisions, and work to implement them alongside the neighborhood’s concerned health center. This aims to deepen the pioneering role of primary health care. This type of health care aims to enhance the concept of self-care among community members. It is line with the national transformation initiatives and the Saudi Vision 2030.

Wateen Initiative, which seeks to reduce the communication gap between donors and blood banks; making the blood donation process much easier.

Shefa Electronic Platform, which aims to facilitate providing treatment to the needy, stranded people, and emergency cases.

A Partnership agreement with Tawahud Steps National Organization in Makkah to rehabilitate Saudi autistic individuals, free of charge.

A Partnership agreement with Rohama'a Health Association to perform 1,000 eye operations on individuals on MOH’s list of hospitals, in specialized medical centers in the private sector.

Partnership agreement with Al-Eradah Organization for Talented People with disability. It aims to provide health services and medical coordination to beneficiaries, based on the concept of social responsibility.

 Ministry of Education's Initiatives

Partnerships with Saudi Associations for Rehabilitation and Development: The Ministry of Education, represented by the General Administration of Special Education in the agency for Educational Programs, concluded communications related to a mutual understanding with Saudi charitable societies to rehabilitate and educate students with special needs and special education. The department concluded a cooperative agreement with the Saudi Society for Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder in the field of educational services and rehabilitation for people with ADHD, serving people with ADHD in a number of areas represented in the exchange of technical and advisory expertise, awareness fields, measurement and diagnosis, development of evidence for people with ADHD, specialized workshops and training programs, and cooperation in the field of research of common interest, in addition to improving the school and classroom environment in ADHD programs, and providing strategies and skill training to families in the comprehensive channel of special education in a number of areas of education through recreational, social, media design, language and mathematics skills, in addition to early intervention, and modification and behavioral, functional and physical rehabilitation.Based on that agreement, awareness films, specialized guides, and training courses were issued to rehabilitate and educate students with special needs and special education.

UNESCO Learning Cities: The Ministry of Education, represented by the agency for Educational Programs, signed an agreement with the UNESCO Regional Center for Quality and Excellence in Education, an agreement to launch and accredit learning cities in the Kingdom, with the possibility of studying the nomination of learning cities, with the aim of launching the Learning Cities project in all regions of the Kingdom, and one of the first results of that agreement was the adoption of Jubail Industrial City and Yanbu Industrial City as learning cities within the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities.

UNESCO's classification of Jubail Industrial City and Yanbu Industrial City as Saudi learning cities within its global network is one of the Ministry of Education's goals in integrating with all other sectors to build an integrated educational journey that promotes a culture of continuing education and lifelong learning. This classification also achieves comprehensive development goals and highlights the role of the Kingdom in preparing a globally competitive citizen.

The mechanism for accrediting learning cities in the Kingdom is in line with Vision 2030 in terms of ensuring the development of human capabilities and improving learning outcomes, which contributes to empowering the sons and daughters of the country, achieving harmonization between education outcomes, labor market requirements and future jobs, and creating a vibrant community capable of improving learning outcomes, in addition to qualifying and training members of the local community, as well as creating innovative practices for continuing education, and providing attractive educational environments.

 

Ministry of Municipal, Rural Affairs and Housing's Initiatives

Owners' Union: The Owners Union Program of the Ministry of Housing seeks to regulate the relationship between the owners and occupants of jointly owned housing units by establishing systems, regulations and control mechanisms, organizing property and facilities management services, and playing an educational and awareness role in a manner that guarantees the preservation of rights and good use and promotes a culture of coexistence.

Joud (generosity) of Housing: One of the initiatives of the National Developmental Housing Corporation affiliated with the Ministry of Housing. It aims to involve the community (individuals / organizations) to provide a helping hand to charitable housing tender through an electronic platform that achieves transparency, accuracy and professionalism in providing charitable contribution, through several initiatives such as:

  • Supporting housing: it is provided to the families most in need of families covered by social care in the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development. You can make a donation through the link.
  • Rent subsidy: it is provided to families most in need of families covered by social care in the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, and they have failed on paying the rent. You can make a donation through the link.
  • Public participation: In public participation, you can provide a cash amount without specifying a beneficiary, as well as an in-kind contribution such as housing units or a land to be built on. You can make a donation through in-kind donations or general financial contributions.
  • Housing projects

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