ISLAMABAD - President Mamnoon Hussain on Tuesday stressed promoting the spirit of volunteerism in the society and lauded the services of Pakistan Red Crescent Society in helping the people in distress without any discrimination.
Addressing the volunteers at the prize distribution ceremony of Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS) held here at the Aiwan-e-Sadr, the President said service to humanity is the noblest cause.
The President, who is also the President of Pakistan Red Crescent Society, said selflessness is the very spirit of volunteerism and when a person's spirit and soul are volunteered to a particular task, the results achieved are phenomenal and exemplary. He said that over the last several decades, the Red Cross and Red Cross Societies had provided assistance to millions of vulnerable people in the world.
He expressed satisfaction that the volunteers of PRCS had also contributed immensely during times of disasters, being the first to reach the scene of a disaster and the last to leave. The President commended the role played by PRCS in flood relief and rehabilitation and in preventing outbreak of diseases in the wake of floods and earthquake.
He quoted a verse from the Holy Quran which says that "He who saves one life, is as though he has saved the entire humanity."
He said the life of Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) is an example for all who displayed the greatest patience even to his enemies.
President Mamnoon said service to humanity is preached in every religion and paid tribute to Henry Daunt, the great social activist for pioneering the idea of establishing an organization dedicated to alleviating the sufferings of people regardless of the considerations of national boundaries, race or religion.
He hoped that PRCS would continue training the volunteers in accordance with international standards enabling them to serve the country to the best of their abilities.
The President congratulated a volunteer Nazia Mazhar for winning the International Volunteering Development Award 2011 on her proposal 'Healthy, Wealthy Pakistan' and said the nation was proud of her success from among the 187 countries.
Chairman PRCS Major General (retired) Chaudhry Muhammad Nawaz Khan in his welcome address said the Society had over 220,000 highly committed volunteer base drawn from all segments of the society in the country's 89 districts.
He said volunteerism is an impregnable strength of a nation and the PRCS volunteers had been trained with a spirit of enthusiasm in the service to humanity.
He mentioned that PRCS had the acceptability in even the no-go areas of Balochistan and FATA for its selfless relief work, disaster management and health care activities.
He said PRCS had actively contributed to the relief and rehabilitation work after the earthquake in 2005, floods in 2007, rehabilitation of Internally Displaced Persons, Ataabad landslide in 2010 and the flashfloods in Punjab, Sindh and KPK in 2010.
President Mamnoon Hussain later distributed prizes among the winners of the drama and speech contest among the PRCS volunteers to mark the International Volunteers Day.