Syria Today | Syria celebrates International Volunteer Day

In recognition of their efforts during the crisis, the administrators of the first aid teams and the Disaster Management Centre of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) were honoured during a special ceremony celebrating the International Volunteer Day last December in Damascus.

During the ceremony, Dr. Abdul Rahman Attar, president of the Damascus branch of SARC, awarded certificates for 32 new first aid squad volunteers from 2008 through 2010. 

The new graduates have already spent two years as volunteers on first aid teams and committed to the seven fundamental principles of the Red Cross and Red Crescent movement while providing emergency services. Since the beginning of the unrest, SARC volunteers have been going to the field and helping the injured in the most troubled places in the country.

The ceremony was held in cooperation with UNICEF and witnessed the distinctive participation of the Child Friendly Spaces Choir. Established in 2007, the choir includes about 40 children and aims to provide a safe environment for children in order to motivate and assist them in overcoming difficult social conditions.

SARC was founded in 1942 and has been recognised as a humanitarian association by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Geneva since 1946.