Emirati senior citizens feel the love from this community initiative

Who doesn’t love receiving a friendly phone call from friends and family. With the pandemic placing many of the country’s older citizens in quarrentine, such calls became an absolute blessing across the UAE. 

The pandemic has made sweeping changes across the world, including here in the UAE. Most of us were forced to stay home for our and others’ safety. Although restrictions are now easing, for UAE seniors, quarrentine is still a fact of life.

This fact set a community initiative in action, with a group of 63 volunteers, along with several employees of the Ministry of Community Development, and staff in the social development centres, hitting  the phones.

Almost 13,000 calls to senior Emiratis all over the country have been made as part of “We Are Your Family” remote initiative.

The initiative promoted communication with senior Emiratis and supported them during home quarantine amid the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, pandemic from the beginning of 2020 until the end of August 2020.

In the recent past, the volunteers and staff of social development centres have carried out several home visits to senior Emiratis to meet the requirements of the community initiative which ensures communication, whether by visits to their residence or by telephone calls and presenting necessary documentary reports.

The move is an exceptional humanitarian and community deed shared by the Ministry of Community Development with the national campaign “UAE Volunteers”. The initiative is one of the volunteering opportunities available to all members of the community and is supported by volunteers nationwide.

Alia Al Joker, Director of Family Development Department at the Ministry of Community Development, emphasised the importance of the initiative during the pandemic.

“‘We Are Your Family’ initiative is based on telephone communication and video phone applications as an alternative solution to field visits.

“The ministry’s staff and volunteers seek to create an environment of familiarity with senior Emiratis at their homes, check on their mental and social health and meet their home needs, reflecting the ministry’s initiatives with a proactive vision.”

The initiative also urges all the members of the community, including volunteers who are registered in the national volunteering platform to reach out to these community members to ensure the strength of social relations, bonds and ties among all the members of society and community.

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