The amending by-law included repealing Article 4 of the original by-law and replacing it with defining the objectives of the Award as encouraging voluntary work, directing energies towards such work, consolidating the values and culture of voluntary work, activating social responsibility among institutions, honoring those behind distinguished voluntary work with positive impact, and encouraging ideas owners in the field of voluntary work and putting their ideas into effect.
The by-law also included amending the text of Paragraph (C) of Article 6 and replacing it with the text "approving the fields covered by the Award, their types, number, amounts, and geographical scope." It also repealed the text of Article 8 of the original by-law and replaced it with the text of the amended Article 8, which includes the formation of the Award Management Committee headed by the Ministry's Secretary-General and the membership of a representative of the Crown Prince Foundation (as Vice-Chairman), two representatives of the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development, a representative of the Ministry of Social Development, the unit director, and three experienced and specialized persons appointed by the Council based on the Minister's nomination. Item (C), which stipulates that "The Chairman of the Management Committee shall appoint, upon the nomination of the Director, one of the unit's employees to be its rapporteur, who shall undertake organizing its meetings, recording its minutes, following up on the implementation of its recommendations, and keeping its records and logs." The by-law also defined the tasks of the Management Committee in preparing the Award program and supervising its implementation, proposing the fields covered by the Award, preparing instructions related to the bases and criteria of the Award and its guidelines and forms, supervising the management of the Award ceremony, approving the executive plans for each Award cycle prepared by the unit including the unit's follow-up plan for winning voluntary works, approving the evaluation and arbitration plan and following up on its implementation, approving the experts and technicians whose names are nominated to work in the Arbitration Committee, and any other tasks assigned by the Council.
Article (9) was also amended, as the specific time period for announcing the start of receiving nomination applications in the by-law—which was specified as not less than 4 months and not more than 6 months from the date of its granting—was cancelled, and the Council was granted the power to determine and manage the period for receiving nomination applications for each cycle in accordance with implementation requirements, which expands the participation rate in the Award from all targeted categories and grants applicants the largest time period to complete their applications.
The amending by-law for the Award, launched by His Royal Highness Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah II, comes to promote the culture of volunteering and honor the voluntary efforts of individuals, institutions, and team groups, as the Award has become the national reference for promoting the culture of volunteering and honoring the voluntary efforts of the targeted categories, and based on the results of the legislative impact assessment study of the by-law, which was conducted within the requirements of the legislation and policies impact assessment system and the feedback from meetings with winners in the three cycles of the Award.
The amendments contribute to developing work mechanisms in line with the accumulated experiences of the three cycles, developing its tools and mechanisms to serve its national objectives, institutionalizing the management of the Award, and enhancing governance and transparency. The amending by-law enhanced the clarity of roles and responsibilities between the Board of Trustees, the Award Management Committee, and the Arbitration Committee, such that the Award Management Committee undertakes the technical and executive aspects, while the Board of Trustees undertakes its role in setting high policy, and the Arbitration Committee specializes in the evaluation and arbitration process. The Board of Trustees now approves the fields of application for the Award based on the nomination of the Management Committee, which enhances partnership in decision-making. A clearer separation was also made between setting criteria and arbitration work, which enhances the independence of the evaluation process and raises the level of governance and transparency. The amending by-law also included expanding the scope of participation to include all residents on the kingdom's land.
The amending by-law allows for the development of the Award's fields in line with developments occurring in voluntary work, and the amending by-law also added the geographical scope within the framework of the Award, which opens the way for expanding its scope Arab and internationally in the future.
