February - March 2009
February - March 2009
IN THIS ISSUE
NEWS FROM IAVE
• IYV+10…The Countdown Continues…
• IAVE’s Priorities for IYV+10
• GCVC Research on Corporate Volunteering Worldwide
• Update on the Asia-Pacific Regional Conference
• From the World President
• IAVE Board Notes – Claudia McNamee
NEWS FROM IAVE MEMBERS
• Volunteering – That’s My Attitude!!
• GCVC Member Profile: Marriott International Inc.
• IAVE World President Visits Taiwan
• Hong Kong Volunteers Will Make East Asian Games a Legend
NEWS FROM THE GLOBAL VOLUNTEER COMMUNITY
• Trends in Volunteering in Japan
• Resources You Can Use Now
WE NEED TO HEAR FROM YOU! Sometimes we aren’t sure if anyone is actually reading E-IAVE. Please send us news of your organization, your personal volunteer efforts, etc. For E-IAVE to really work, it needs to be our shared responsibility. Please let us hear from you – kenn@civilsocietyconsulting.com. Thanks!
NEWS FROM IAVE
IYV+10…THE COUNTDOWN CONTINUES
ONLY 21 MONTHS TO GO! As the following two articles indicate, IAVE is making its plans for IYV+10. Are you? If so, please share them with us so we can then share them with all of our members. Send to kenn@civilsocietyconsulting.com.
IAVE’S PRIORITIES FOR IYV+10
At its meeting last November, the IAVE board identified priority activities for the lead-up to and during IYV+10.
Some of the priorities are “external” – that is, they are programs that IAVE is offering to the global volunteer community. These include:
• A new version of the Universal Declaration on Volunteering
• Research on corporate/employee volunteering worldwide
• The World Volunteer Conference in January 2011 in Singapore
• A “summit meeting” of national volunteer centers
• A “world youth volunteer conference” in 2011
• Regional conferences in Asia-Pacific in 2009 and 2011 and in Latin America in 2010
Others of the priorities are more “internal” – that is, they are about strengthening IAVE and its network. These include:
• A new IAVE.org web site with enhanced features and a “members only” area
• An aggressive effort to build IAVE’s membership
• Celebration of IAVE’s 40th birthday
• Promotion of IYV+10 throughout the IAVE membership
• Progress toward creating a permanent secretariat for IAVE
ANNOUNCING THE IAVE/GCVC RESEARCH ON CORPORATE/EMPLOYEE VOLUNTEERING WORLDWIDE
[In September, corporate members of IAVE’s Global Corporate Volunteer Council (GCVC) met in Rio de Janeiro. One of their agenda items was to discuss the contribution GCVC can make to celebration of IYV+10. The result was the initial design of a major research project on corporate volunteering worldwide. This article is adapted from the initial announcement of the project.]
The Global Corporate Volunteer Council, an initiative of IAVE: The International Association for Volunteer Effort, is committed to leading in the development and dissemination of new knowledge about corporate volunteering. As one of our contributions to the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the International Year of Volunteers (IYV+10) in 2011, we are launching a major two-part research project to fill two gaps in knowledge about corporate volunteering:
• An in-depth study of global corporate volunteer systems; and,
• A survey study of the “state of health” of corporate volunteering worldwide.
Together, the two will represent the most comprehensive global examination of corporate volunteering ever undertaken. Our goal is to complete both projects by early in 2011.
The Study of Global Corporate Volunteer Systems
The purpose of the study is to create the first comparative knowledge of how global companies promote and support employee volunteering throughout their global systems.
We will do this by identifying and analyzing volunteer programs sponsored by global corporations in a significant number of the countries in which they do business. Our goal is to identify and secure the participation of up to 50 global companies. While we recognize that the majority of the world’s global companies are headquartered in North America, Europe and East Asia, we will seek representation from all regions of the world.
The study will describe the nature and scope of the companies’ volunteer programs, how they operate, the extent to which companies have created true “global systems” of these programs, key lessons to be learned and best practices to be identified from them, challenges they face, evidence of their value, etc.
The “State of Health” Study
Although there have been numerous national studies of corporate volunteering, there has never been a comprehensive global study. Our study will fill that gap by focusing on the nature and scope of corporate volunteering worldwide, how it operates in various countries, best practices that can be identified, challenges faced, evidence of value, the impact of cultural differences on the programs, etc. The study will be organized along regional and national lines to ensure the broadest possible penetration.
For more information on the project, please contact Sarah Hayes at sarah@civilsocietyconsulting.com or Kenn Allen at kenn@civilsocietyconsulting.com.
UPDATE ON THE IAVE ASIA PACIFIC REGIONAL VOLUNTEER CONFERENCE
Call for Workshop Proposals Open March 1 - July 1
IAVE members, partners and other interested parties are invited to submit workshop proposals to be presented at the 12th IAVE Asia Pacific Regional Conference, which will take place in Kaohsiung, Taiwan on November 26-29, 2009.
The workshop sessions are 90 minutes long and run from 1:30-3:00PM on Friday (Nov 27) and Saturday (Nov 28) and 3:30-5:00PM on Friday (agenda times are subject to change). The workshop tracks are: (1) Volunteer management in large scale events, (2) Corporate volunteering and its impart on Asia Pacific society, (3) Volunteerism and information and communication technology, (4) volunteering within the culturally diverse Asia Pacific region, (5) National volunteer centers, and (6) International volunteering.
The call for workshop proposals officially opens on March 1 and the deadline for submissions is July 1. Proposals should be sent by email to: iave.2009@gmail.com, Attn: “Call for Paper”.
An international selection committee will review all workshop proposals from July 6 to August 7. Notification of proposal status will be emailed to elected presenters and released on the conference website on August 15 with an indication of the likely date and the time of your workshop, although this may be subject to change.
For successful applicants, the full workshop paper should be sent to iave.2009@gmail.com, Attn: “Full Paper of Workshop” before September 15. Standard formats for proposals and full papers will be announced with the official call for proposals on March 1.
Registration Opens May 1
Registration for the conference will open on May 1. For early birds who register before June 30, the fee is US$300 for IAVE members, $350 for non-members and $275 for youth (up to 30 years old). Starting July 1, the registration fees go up to $350 for members, $400 for non-members and $300 for youths. Youth volunteers (defined as those born after December 2, 1979) also get food, accommodation and local transportation from November 26-29 included in their registration fee.
Organized by IAVE, IAVE Taiwan and Kaohsiung City Volunteer Association, the conference will be a chance for stakeholders, policy makers and practitioners in the Asia Pacific to exchange ideas on the latest trends in volunteer development and experience the diversity of the volunteer sector in Taiwan
The conference aims to follow on the successes of previous IAVE Asia Pacific Regional Conferences by developing policy and practice in the areas of volunteering, cross cultural exchange, and international development. In addition to the NGO sector, participants will include government and corporate representatives, both from Taiwan and throughout the region.
Kaohsiung is the second largest city in Taiwan and the island’s biggest international port. Surrounded by mountains and the sea, Kaohsiung has a beautiful coastline as well as the Love River meandering 17 kilometers through the heart of the city. The weather is warm year round. The conference falls in the same year that Kaohsiung City is hosting the World Games, adding another dimension to what promises to be a highly rewarding and enjoyable event.
Please see the conference website (www.iave.npotech.org.tw) for full details in English, Chinese, Japanese and Korean.
FROM THE WORLD PRESIDENT
Greetings! While I have not been traveling for IAVE in the past weeks, it has been a time for us to catch up on a variety of other tasks.
IAVE has long been affiliated with the United Nations Economic and Social Council and has been represented at UN headquarters in New York City by long-time IAVE members and volunteers Nancy and Frank Colton. Recently we have completed updated our information in the ECOSOC database. We remain very grateful to Nancy and Frank for their very steadfast presence at the UN.
We also have renewed our membership in CONGO, the Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations.
CONGO is an independent, international, and non-profit membership association of non-governmental organizations whose objective is to secure, safeguard, and facilitate the participation of NGOs in United Nations conferences, debates and decision-making.
You will recall the research on the relationship of volunteering and social action that IAVE co-sponsored with CIVICUS and United Nations Volunteers. I had the opportunity to review and comment on article based on that research. Also, I reviewed and revised the translation of the research paper into Korean to share with Korean volunteer organizations.
I gave a public lecture for government officers at Yongsan District Office in Seoul and convened the Volunteer Administrators Forum for management staff in volunteering departments.
Also, this month I was newly appointed as an Advisory Committee member of Korea National Human Rights Commission.
Dr. Kang-Hyun Lee
iavepres@korea.com
IAVE BOARD NOTES – CLAUDIA MCNAMEE
Claudia McNamee, corporate representative to the IAVE board of directors, left her position at Citi (Citibank) at the end of December. In announcing that, she wrote, “My 13-year career at Citi has been rich with challenges and triumphs which will only make the next chapter that much more exciting.
We are pleased that she will continue as a member of the IAVE board and will focus her energy on strengthening our Global Corporate Volunteer Council (GCVC).
She wrote to the IAVE board, “I believe that IAVE is a bright spot in a world full of turmoil and I look forward to continuing to work with you to ensure that it provides strong thought leadership and a channel for instrumental communications about the volunteer sector.
Her new e-mail address is claudia.mcnamee@gmail.com.
NEWS FROM IAVE MEMBERS
VOLUNTEERING – THAT’S MY ATTITUDE!!!
International Volunteer Day 2008 in India
[This report comes to us from C. Indira Dasgupta, IAVE National Representative in India.]
Indian Association for Volunteer Effort (Iave) and People’s Institute for Development and Training (PIDT) jointly organized United Nations International Volunteer Day on 5th December, 2008 to launch the movement ‘Volunteering – that’s my attitude!’ to further the campaigns organized in the last two years on ‘I SHAPE THE WORLD’ initiated by C. Indira Dasgupta.
The celebration brought participants of all ages ranging from 11 to 87 years, men and women, including 30 young volunteers on one platform to rededicate themselves to volunteering with the heart in the current terror scenario facing the globe. As part of celebration, young volunteers went, in teams, out into the community with stickers pasted on their chests saying “‘Volunteering – that’s my attitude!’
They visited adjoining communities to identify five major problems of the country through direct interaction with the community. Most of the neighborhood residents identified terrorism as the most serious problem we face in the present while others identified illiteracy, unemployment, lack of sufficient drinking water in the cities, dirty politics, corruption etc to mention a few. There was a difference noticed between genders and age-groups of people about the crucial issues.
The Iave Volunteers took the International Volunteer Pledge (which was translated into Hindi). An action plan to respect diversity and increase information about other groups was formed. A small, multi-religious, peace prayers booklet was released on this occasion.
The volunteers pledged to spend 5 hours every week in volunteering.
Global Corporate Volunteer Council Member Profile
MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL, INC
[Thanks to Sarah Hayes, IAVE’s Director of GCVC.]
With over 80 years of history (Marriott began as a small root beer stand in Washington DC!), Marriott International is one of the world’s best known hospitality companies, with more than 3,100 properties throughout 67 countries.
Marriott’s brands include The Ritz-Carlton, JW Marriott Hotels & Resorts, Bulgari Hotels & Resorts, Marriott Hotels & Resorts, Renaissance Hotels & Resorts, Courtyard by Marriott, SpringHill Suites by Marriott, Fairfield Inn by Marriott, Residence Inn by Marriott, TownePlace Suites by Marriott, Marriott Executive Apartments, a number of Marriott Vacation Clubs and Marriott Golf resorts.
For the 12th consecutive year, Marriott is listed on Fortune’s “100 Best Companies to Work For,” and without a doubt one of the reasons is their community engagement and support of associate (employee) volunteering. At the core of Marriott’s philosophy, is their value of the associates, guests and the community!
Marriott International joined the Global Corporate Volunteer Council (GCVC) in the summer of 2007. Barbara Powell, Senior Director of International Social Responsibility & Community Engagement and Laura Roberts, Manager of International Social Responsibility, are both active members having attended the GCVC meeting at United Nations Volunteers Headquarters in Bonn, Germany in 2007, and participating in many GCVC calls.
Barbara and Laura are based in London, and have both indicated that they find the GCVC a valuable network to share good practices and learn about the latest trends in employee volunteering around the world.
Marriott’s global community engagement efforts are captured in the brand identity “Spirit to Serve Our Communities.” Employee volunteer efforts are carried out in a number of ways, from local individual hotel efforts to Marriott Business Councils, which count “social responsibility and community engagement” as one of their top five priorities. When working with charitable organizations, Marriott focuses on five signature issues:
• Shelter and Food… Addressing housing and hunger needs, including in times of disaster
Every day around the world, guests call Marriott their “home away from home.” That’s why it’s only natural for Marriott to help create places of refuge for those in need, providing housing and feeding the hungry.
• Environment….Working toward a greener, healthier planet
Marriott’s twenty year environmental commitment starts from the top and working with Conservation International, they have developed a five-point strategy that will enable them to measure, reduce and offset their global carbon footprint. This strategy is focused on protecting the rainforest through carbon offsets; setting aggressive goals to further reduce fuel and water consumption; engaging with their top 40 vendors to supply price-neutral greener products; empowering their hotel development partners to site, design and construct new hotels in line the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED standards; and educating and encouraging their employees and guests to support the environment through their everyday actions.
• Readiness for Hotel Careers….Educating and training the next generation
Marriott is committed to providing opportunities to the next generation. They focus on programs serving young people from challenging backgrounds, where their assistance often provides life-changing alternatives.
• Vitality of Children….Aiding sick and impoverished children
Answering the needs of sick and impoverished children is a heartfelt desire of Marriott employees around the world. In many communities where they operate, children are vulnerable to the effects of poverty, including crime, neglect and exploitation
• Embracing Diversity and People with Disabilities….Providing opportunities, especially through the workplace
Marriott recognizes that a diverse and inclusive environment strengthens their company’s culture and provides a competitive advantage. Marriott’s formal commitment to diversity began 19 years ago, focused primarily on workplace programs. Today, their diversity initiative has expanded to include employees, owners, customers, franchisees and suppliers, and is driven by their Board of Directors.
The Ritz-Carlton Hotels
All Marriott brands are active in the community, but in this article we want to pay special tribute to the interesting and innovative ways that the Ritz-Carlton hotels participates in the community under the umbrella of their Community Footprints program which addresses three major areas:
• hunger and poverty relief
• well-being of disadvantaged children
• environmental conservation
The Ritz-Carlton also embraces two innovative initiatives which not only involve their employees but also their guests! One of these initiatives is called Meaningful Meetings, where a percentage of the charge for holding a business meeting at the Ritz-Carlton is donated back to the community.
The second is a newer initiative called VolunTeaming which has been started at Ritz-Carlton properties in the U.S., the Caribbean and Mexico, and will likely spread to other regions of the world, as it is becoming quite popular.
Through the VolunTeaming Program, guests of The Ritz-Carlton can participate in half or full day community projects during the course of their stay. Examples of these projects include harvesting organic crops at the renowned Chef’s Garden for donation to local food banks in Cleveland, Ohio; building enclosures, landscaping and preparing food for the animals at the Big Cat Habitat in Sarasota, Florida; and helping preserve the historic gardens of Alcatraz Island in San Francisco, California.
VolunTeaming is an innovative way to benefit hotel guests, The Ritz-Carlton employees, and the community!
IAVE is very glad to count Marriott International, Inc. among our GCVC members. They bring unique perspective to our members, and are very giving and accommodating. We saw this in action this past November when the JW Marriott in Seoul, Korea hosted a GCVC luncheon for members at their beautiful hotel.
GCVC members in attendance in addition to Marriott were SK Telecom, Samsung, Hyundai-Kia, Lilly and Citi – as well as IAVE’s president, Dr. Kang-Hyun Lee, and representatives from the organization Volunteer 21, IAVE’s National Representative in Korea.
In addition to the fantastic efforts of Julie Lee and her colleagues, we were honored to welcome the General Manager of the hotel, Robert Stark, to the meeting. Mr. Stark shared with the group how pleased they were to be part of the GCVC, and to have the opportunity to host our first meeting in Asia. As one of the topics of our meeting was “collaboration”, the JW Marriott showcased beautifully how working together can be more effective than working alone. We thank them for their wonderful hospitality!
IAVE looks forward to a long and fruitful relationship with Marriott International, and we encourage those who travel to check out their beautiful properties and support them when you can by visiting www.marriott.com
IAVE WORLD PRESIDENT VISITS TAIWAN
[Thanks to IAVE Taiwan for providing this report on the visit of IAVE World President Dr. Kang-Hyun Lee to Taiwan last November.]
Dr. Kang-Hyun Lee visited Taiwan November 26-28, 2008 in order to strengthen the connection between IAVE and Taiwan and promote the XII IAVE Asia Pacific Regional Volunteer Conference. During the visit, he called on government departments, NPOs, and corporations.
The main purpose for this visit was the “International Master Class Forum – The Rise of Economic Social Power: Role Models in Corporate Volunteering” on November 26 at which the Taiwanese government, NPOs, and citizens shared their volunteering experience. Representatives of major corporations and NPOs were invited to support the philosophy of the conference and to echo the core theme – “Corporate Volunteering and Its Impact on Asia Pacific Society”.
The forum was held in the APA Center in the School of Continuing Education of the Chinese Culture University. Dr. Lee joined Sophie Tsia, Sony Taiwan’s public-relations manager and Weng Huei-yuan, Social Work Department Director of the Taiwan Fund for Children and Families as speakers. The goal of this forum was focused on how to spread corporate resources effectively and achieve a win-win situation between social organizations and corporations through communication.
Dr. Lee discussed the beginning of what he described as the “third stage” in corporate volunteering, which means that volunteering is not only a simple charity industry right now, but also has turned into cooperation between corporations and civil society. Companies encourage employees to participate in volunteering for social benefits and that also brings profits for the employee volunteers and company.
It is clear that the concept of corporate volunteering has spread to the Asia Pacific region. It will be one of the discussed topics at the 12th IAVE Asia Pacific Regional Volunteer Conference.
Dr. Lee expressed the hope that a Taiwan Corporate Volunteer Council (T-CVC) can be launched at that time.
Many Taiwanese companies have promoted corporate volunteering for several years and integrate this ideal into their operational guidelines in order to connect to the world. IAVE Taiwan arranged Dr. Lee to visit several companies to learn about their volunteering. These included Global Mobile Corp., TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited), and San-Chi Hair Salon Chain Store. They shared their volunteering experiences and results and the outcomes of their corporate social responsibility programs.
Dr. Lee also visited government leaders to build up good relationships. He also met vice president Vincent Siew and shared his experiences of volunteering. Vice president Siew accepted the invitation from Dr. Lee to be the honorary chairperson of the organizing committee for the 12th IAVE Asia Pacific Regional Volunteer Conference and promised to be there next year in the conference. Dr. Lee also visited the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of the Interior, National Youth Commission, and other government organizations that have provided assistance for IAVE Taiwan.
HONG KONG VOLUNTEERS WILL MAKE EAST ASIAN GAMES A LEGEND
[Thanks to Ms. Likie Lee, Service Head at the Agency for Volunteer Service in Hong Kong for this article.]
The 5th East Asian Games (EAG), the first ever multi-sports event in Hong Kong, is going to be held in December 2009. Following the success of 2008 Beijing Olympic, volunteers will make another legend in the world !
Agency for Volunteer Service (AVS) is appointed as the co-organizer of the 5th EAG Volunteer Programme. To encourage community participation, volunteer recruitment has started widely in the region in May 2008, which received tremendous response from the public. Around 11,000 people had submitted their applications up to 30 November 2008, and approximately 1,300 of them have been appointed as volunteer leaders and members. More than 3,000 volunteers, in total, will be recruited to provide necessary reception, technical and logistics support for the preparation and implementation of the Games.
To well prepare volunteers for the mission next year, specially designed trainings on generic and specific aspects have been started in December 2008, and will persist till November 2009.
For details of the volunteer programme, please visit the website at www.2009eastasiangames.hk/volunteer.
NEWS FROM THE GLOBAL VOLUNTEER COMMUNITY
TRENDS IN VOLUNTEERING IN JAPAN
Beginning this year, the United States will commemorate September 11 as a National Day of Service and Remembrance.
Legislation establishing the day was passed by the U.S. Congress earlier this year and signed into law by President Barack Obama on April 21, 2009.
The concept of the day had its origin in 2002 with the support of a group of families of survivors of the attacks of September 11, 2001. Although not a legal (bank) holiday, it is a time for Americans to pause and remember the events of that day and to join together in service to their nation.
The website http://www.911dayofservice.org describes the purpose of the day in this way:
“Our mission is to honor the victims of 9/11 and those who rose to service in response to the attacks by encouraging all Americans and others throughout the world to pledge to voluntarily perform at least one good deed, or another service activity on 9/11 each year. In this way we hope to create a lasting and forward-looking legacy -- annually rekindling the spirit of service, tolerance, and compassion that unified America and the world in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.”
To learn more, please visit that website or http://www.serve.gov/, the U.S. government sponsored website that has been created to promote and support volunteering.
From Poverty to Power: How Active Citizens and Effective States Can Change the World
The twenty-first century will be defined by the fight against the scourges of poverty, inequality, and the threat of environmental collapse – as the fight against slavery or for universal suffrage defined earlier eras. From Poverty to Power argues that it requires a radical redistribution of power, opportunities, and assets to break the cycle of poverty and inequality and to give poor people power over their own destinies The forces driving this transformation are active citizens and effective states. Why active citizenship? Because people living in poverty must have a voice in deciding their own destiny, fighting for rights and justice in their own society, and holding states and the private sector to account. Why effective states? Because history shows that no country has prospered without a state structure than can actively manage the development process. There is now an added urgency beyond the moral case for tackling poverty and inequality: we need to build a secure, fair, and sustainable world before climate change makes it impossible. This book argues that leaders, organisations, and individuals need to act together, while there is still time.
Available from the Institute of Development Studies – http://www.ntd.co.uk/idsbookshop/details.asp?id=1076
