More than 30,000 volunteers needed for Dubai Expo 2020

More than 30,000 volunteers will be needed for the six-month long Expo 2020 in Dubai, officials announced on Tuesday.

The registration portal to join the Expo 2020 Dubai Volunteers Programme – volunteers.ae/expo2020 – will launch on October 20.

The portal will be run in collaboration with the Ministry of Community Development and Emirates Foundation, a statement said.

UAE-based adult volunteers of all ages, nationalities and backgrounds can register.

During Expo, there will be more than 45 volunteering roles, from welcoming guests and guiding them around the Expo districts to managing events, with more than 16 million volunteering hours across 173 days.

Volunteers can also participate in the Expo events leading up to 2020 and brainstorming sessions that could see their ideas included in the plans.

Reem Al Hashimy, director general for Expo 2020 Dubai Bureau, said: “Expo 2020 is a global event for everyone to learn, innovate, create, and have fun by sharing ideas and working together.

“Youth are at the core of Expo 2020 and volunteering with us will be an incredible opportunity for them. We already have many on board and they have had the exciting opportunity to represent Expo 2020 and the UAE at Expos in Astana and Milan, as well as events held in Dubai, such as the launch of District 2020 at Cityscape.

“We have created strategic roles to ensure volunteers get the best out of their experience, including skills that they can go on to use in the workplace or in their daily lives. They will be ‘face’ of the event since most of our visitors will have an initial contact to Expo through meeting a volunteer.”

The event, held under the theme, ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’, is the first expo set to be hosted in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia.

More than than 200 international participants including countries, companies, NGOs and educational institutions are set to participate, making Expo 2020 one of the most inclusive in the history of World Expos.

The expo is expected to attract up to 25 million visitors over the six-month period, including 70 per cent from outside the UAE.