Emirates Foundation and the Local Organizing Committee for Special Olympics World Games Abu Dhabi 2019 Sign Agreement to Provide Support to the Games

Emirates Foundation, the national organization set up by the Abu Dhabi Government to facilitate public-private funded initiatives for the empowerment of youth across the UAE and the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) for Special Olympics World Games Abu Dhabi 2019 announced the signing of a partnership agreement that will support the successful execution of the upcoming Special Olympics World Games, which will take place for the first time in the Middle East, in Abu Dhabi from 14-21 March 2019 

Under the terms of the agreement, Emirates Foundation will work hand in hand with the LOC utilizing different mechanisms such as the volunteers.ae platform and the Foundation’s state of the art volunteering management system (VMS) to support the Special Olympics team in the registration and data management process of the World Games including the reporting, monitoring and scheduling of the games. 

The signing took place at Emirates Foundation in the presence of HE Maytha Al Habsi, CEO of Emirates Foundation, Peter Wheeler, CEO of Special Olympics World Games Abu Dhabi 2019 and Tala Al Ramahi, Chief Strategy Officer at Special Olympics World Games Abu Dhabi 2019.

The agreement reflects the Emirates Foundation and LOC’s commitment to engage youth to support and serve in one of the most important global sporting events to be hosted by the UAE in 2019 - harnessing the nation’s largest volunteering platform “Volunteers.ae” and capitalizing on its comprehensive database and management system.

Commenting on the signing, H.E. Maytha Al Habsi, CEO of Emirates Foundation said: ”Since the establishment of Emirates Foundation in 2005, volunteering has been at the heart of our mission and top priorities aligned with our vision to engage and empower youth to take on a leadership role within society.”

“Today and through our joint partnership with Special Olympics, we remain committed to offer all the support required through volunteers.ae, maximizing the volunteering management system to offer the assistance needed in the planning, management and execution for the 2019 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Abu Dhabi.” Al Habsi concluded.

Tala Al Ramahi, Chief Strategy Officer of Special Olympics World Games Abu Dhabi 2019 said: ”Hosting Special Olympics World Games Abu Dhabi 2019, one of the most important sporting events on the global calendar, requires the engagement and commitment of thousands of volunteers to ensure the outcome is at the highest standards. The role that every single volunteer will play in the Games is an invaluable one; without them, the event would not be possible. 

We value our partnership with Emirates Foundation and look forward to working with the foundation over the coming months to create a culture of volunteerism and civic engagement across the UAE.” Al Ramahi concluded.