January 12, 2010
ASIA-PACIFIC REPORT covering Oct 2006-Mar 2008 for the IAVE BOARD MEETING, PANAMA, 30-31 March 2008
| This report covers the period Oct 2006-Mar 2008. The Asia-Pacific region continues its growth path in terms of membership numbers and continuing support for IAVE in particular through its commitment to IAVE conferences.
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1. Membership
1.1 As of Mar 18 2008, the Asia-Pacific region tops the IAVE membership list with a total of 181 members, a 115% growth over the 84 members in Oct 2006 reported at the last Board meeting in New Delhi. Credit for this growth goes largely to South Korea which alone accounts for 111 members, up from the 70 last reported, and undoubtedly to the man primarily responsible, Dr Kang-Hyun Lee.
1.2 The other countries in this region with a decent number of members are Bangladesh, Japan and Australia (refer to Kenn Allen’s Membership Services report).
2 IAVE Conferences
2.1 Regional Conferences
2.1.1 Asia-Pacific continues to be good soil for IAVE conferences. The 10th Regional Asia-Pacific Conference in Hong Kong in 2005 was followed by the 11th AP Conference in Nagoya in Nov 2007, successfully organised by IAVE Japan for over 300 delegates. Fierce bidding in Nagoya to host the 2008 regional conference resulted in the the Bid Committee comprising Liz Burns, Kathi Dennis and Tan Chee Koon, assisted by our Nagoya hosts, deciding to award the 2009 confererence to Kaohshiung, and the 2011 conference to Gyeongnam-do in South Korea, with very little separating the two bids.
2.1.2 This intense interest in upholding the IAVE regional conference in the Asia-Pacific region bodes well for IAVE in the hope that sustained staging of these conferences will open up new membership markets for IAVE amongst countries in close proximity to the host country.
2.2 World Volunteer Conferences
2.1.1. IAVE India successfully hosted the 19th 2006 IAVE World Conference in New Delhi from 10 to 14 November 2006 through the hard effort of PIDT’s Dasgupta family and their supporters. We were saddened to learn of the passing in 2007 of Indira’s father, Professor Subhachari Dasgupta, who had been an avid backer of IAVE all these years.
2.1.2 Singapore has successfully bid to host the significant XXI World Volunteer Conference to kick off 2011 as the UN-designated IVY +10, and also to celebrate IAVE’s 40th anniversary. IAVE’s National Representative in Singapore, ie the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre (NVPC) is the local organising partner, with the Centre’s CEO (and IAVE Board Member) Tan Chee Koon chairing the Organising Committee. NVPC aims to make this conference the best IAVE conference ever and it is hoped that with strong programming, aggressive marketing and efficient organising, that the conference will be instrumental in drumming up a quantum leap in IAVE membership especially from the neighbouring ASEAN countries and its big China and India neighbours.
3 IAVE International Resource Centre
3.1 The International Resource Centre (IRC) based in Taiwan with the benefit of funding from the National Youth Commission is a major asset in creating value for IAVE as an international resource centre for volunteering worldwide. Part-time executive director Anthony Carlisle and his team of volunteers at the IRC has continued to fly well the IAVE flag.
3.2 The IRC has tremendous potential to help grow IAVE membership as online content is progressively developed for IAVE’s web presence.
4 Going Forward
4.1 It has been a privilege to serve on the Board of IAVE in this position since 2002, and to see the region grow from strength to strength through the commitment of its members, especially the National Representatives in key places like Australia, New Zealand, Bangladesh, Philippines, India, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, Korea and Singapore.
4.2 I welcome incoming Board representatives for the region, Amelita Go-Dayrit from the Philippines who fills the existing slot vacated by Sha Cordingley, and Kylee Bates from Australia as my successor, who are strong and committed IAVE members. They will strengthen IAVE’s presence in the Asia-Pacific region through a focus on membership and better communications links with IAVE members in the region in general, and the National Representatives in particular.