Volunteers globally all set for Ismaili Civic Day 2022

Dar es Salaam. The worldwide Ismaili community will unite in a concerted effort to improve the quality of life of various neighbourhoods and societies around the world through Environmental Stewardship on sunday September 25.

Last year, thousands of volunteers from 31 countries celebrated the inaugural Global Ismaili CIVIC Day (GICD) by taking part in more than 600 activities that helped with pandemic relief efforts and enhanced environmental sustainability. From planting trees to vaccination drives, volunteers came together to make a positive impact in the spirit of service and civic engagement.

Five regions in Tanzania benefited from various activities in the past edition, such as environmental cleanups, walls painting, tree planting, rehabilitation and renovation of places in Dar es Salaam, Mbeya, Dodoma, Mwanza and Zanzibar.

The 2022 marking of the ‘Civic Day’ will involve the same five regions, with Morogoro also added to the roster, making it six, where activities are set to kick-off from September 25 centred on protecting the environment, in partnership with the Aga Khan Foundation Tanzania.

The activities aimed at reducing carbon footprint include land restoration and tree planting at the Mjimwema Mangrove Forest in Kigamboni, followed by beach fronts clean up.

According to a statement from the Ismaili Community, these activities are necessitated by the fact that the world today seems increasingly fragile and uncertain, while the threat of climate change is possibly the largest challenge humanity has ever faced.

“Addressing this requires collective efforts for environmental protection, preparing for natural disasters, protecting biodiversity, and improving sustainability. This calls for a renewed global commitment to our responsibility to care for the natural world,” said a part of the statement availed to The Citizen.

To commemorate this year’s theme, thousands of Ismaili Civic volunteers around the globe - including more than 700 in Tanzania , will work with local Civic partner organisations in undertaking impactful initiatives.

“This year, we hope to contribute over 150,000 hours of service while engaging tens of thousands of volunteers across 15 countries,” the community’s statement said.

Environmental Stewardship was essential as climate catastrophes have become the single-most pressing issue requiring human attention, Farouq Manji, the Ismaili Civic core team said, adding, “As stewards of the earth, Ismaili Civic along with our partners are putting ethics into action.”

In Tanzania, the community chose the six regions because of a large presence of the Ismaili community. “However, each region has different types of ecosystems and biodiversity that we can impact through our jamati/community initiatives. So, that’s a bonus for our theme of environmental stewardship,” a representative explained.

They added that all activities/initiatives are region-specific and based on contextual needs.

“Our goal this time is that these activities that will start on September 25 will be continued for several months for sustainability.”