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ELITE Vol.1, Issue 42, April 2022
Vol.1, Issue 42, April 2022

Certainly, volunteer work in Egypt, as in the Arab world, Everyone undoubtedly knows about the President's call to
faces several challenges related to the culture of volunteer make 2022 the year of civil society. Now that a third of this
work and the political structure of those societies. Tell us year has passed, how do you assess the feasibility and gains of
about your actual experience with those challenges. What civil society from the government's implementation of this
opportunities have become available to strengthen interest in new orientation?
volunteer work?
Dr. Amani Kandil said that this matter requires more attention
Dr. Amani sees saw that the culture of volunteer work is and efforts from organizations and institutions to seize such a
regressing significantly. Successive field studies over the span of great opportunity. She praises the renewal of that call during the
the past ten years have proven that one of the most important “Egyptian Family Iftar” ceremony as well as the call of all
problems of volunteering is the apathy causing people to refrain community forums to a national dialogue, which was attended by
from volunteering due to their exposure to economic pressure, several civil society figures, indicating that it will have an
the lack of time for many, and the confusion of concepts and effective and audible role in the new republic. In addition to its
values, etc... That is in addition to the tension in the relationship involvement in some issues, such as the activation of the
between the state and voluntary organizations, but we are now on "Presidential Pardon Committee".
the verge of an environment not only conducive to the re-
planting of civil society, but also welcoming of political Finally, what do you advise researchers on civil society issues
discourse, and an enacted law. in Egypt?
On the other side, we find that we are still in the midst of a
dreary cultural and social environment that does not embrace Dr. Amani Kandil advised and urged more hard work and more
volunteerism and discourages it. This is one of the outputs of contact with the land and people! Just as a chemist belongs in his
studies and field research, so we can be certain by saying that our lab, a researcher in civil society issues belongs on the street. A
problem is a cultural and not a material one. researcher cannot study this society from their desk.
Our guest proceeded, to communicate that there were several And now, after this long prosperous journey, on which our guest
excellent volunteer teams and promising organizations in took us, the author of twenty-seven works, of which no less than
Lebanon, but unfortunately, they have retreated and disappeared fourteen are related to civil work. Without her tremendous
amidst the current situation, especially in the last five years. efforts, that work would have been entirely different from what it
Similar ones also existed in Morocco but retreated for the same is now.
reasons. However, we conclude that volunteering differs from
one country to another. An example of this is that the Emirates -If, like us, you are interested in reading the works of our dear
enjoys strong resources, and its sheiks and princesses finance doctor, make sure to check her website which contains works
civil institutions and attract and embrace professionals in such from 2010 to 2022. The books there can be downloaded directly
work. In any case, we can only say that the culture of without restrictions; you can access them through this link:
volunteering suffers from a critical crisis. The family has almost https://amanikandil.com/
erased it from its educational dictionary! That is why Dr. Amani Finally, we can only applaud warmly and extend our thanks and
included in her book, which she is currently working on, some gratitude to our dear guest, and sincerely pray for further
concepts related to the culture of volunteering and refuting the progress, excellence, and advancements.
incorrect ones.

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