May 2006

IN THIS ISSUE

   •  A Note from the Editor
   •  Preparation Underway for IAVE Elections
   •  India – The Tourist Destination of the Millennium
   •  The IAVE International Resource Center
   •  IAVE World President in Ecuador
   •  Report on IAVE Youth Conference in Nigeria
   •  Schools and Volunteers in Tuscany (Italy)

A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

We delayed this issue of E-IAVE so we could bring you the latest news on the IAVE elections and on plans for the World Volunteer Conference.  As the next article notes, you will be getting a special edition of E-IAVE in about two weeks with details on the elections and then the June issue by the end of the month.

We also are trying a new way of sending E-IAVE this month, from my business email.  We receive a large number of “bounce-backs” when we send from the IAVE membership address so we want to see if this improves things.

-- Kenn Allen

PREPARATION UNDERWAY FOR IAVE ELECTIONS

Over the next few months, IAVE will be conducting its 2006 elections under the direction of Tan Chee Koon, member of the board of directors from Singapore.  Elections will be held for World President, Vice-President and Regional Representatives from Africa and the Arab Nations.
 
While details are being finalized now, the process will look something like this:

According to the IAVE by-laws, only people who have been on the IAVE Board of Directors within the past three years are eligible for election as President or Vice-President.  A list of current board members will be found at www.iave.org.  A full list of people eligible will be sent with the call for nominations.
 
E-IAVE is the most efficient way for us to reach the vast majority of our members.  But we also will be asking many of you to help us reach people in your regions and countries who do not have email addresses.

INDIA – THE TOURIST DESTINATION OF THE MILLENNIUM

[This article comes to us from Indira Dasgupta, leader of the team putting together the 2006 IAVE World Volunteer Conference in New Delhi, India as latest news on conference planning.]

Come and enjoy the warm hospitality of the people of India, exemplified in their rich food, garments, music and dances. The Conference does allow a lot of time to intermingle with the business sessions to create an unparalleled ambiance. On November 14th we have a full half-day filled with specially designed tours for you to experience Delhi in its historical glory as well as new found modernity. On November 13th you will go to visit some of the most “happening” volunteer-based organizations in New Delhi, some of them dealing with thousands of volunteers. On the evening of the 12th, you will be taken to a colorful farmers fair or a marketplace which is a direct selling outlet, between buyers and crafts persons where you can shop till you drop! This marketplace also promises a variety of ethnic cuisine from throughout the country.

The XIX IAVE World Conference in India, 2006 promises not only the Lead Global Volunteering Event but also to be most memorable in the range of experiences it has to offer. The conference will focus on volunteering in the context of the Millennium Development Goals. August speakers from the world of volunteering research, development practitioners, corporate volunteers, volunteer managers and political leaders have signed on.

We urge you to reflect upon your volunteering experiences in the context of the MDGs, write them up and send us your case studies, with pictures which will be compiled together to form a unique publication. This may be different from the paper you are submitting for the Conference.

There are very limited exhibition stalls – so if you want to avail of this opportunity to display your country’s heritage, your organization’s publicity material or display any new technologies`– please do so right away!

So far, groups, organizations and individuals from 15 countries have signed up for registration and more have expressed their interest! The IAVE 2006 will demonstrate the power of networking to make the world a better place and target poverty eradication.

If you do not wish to present a paper but do a more participatory presentation, do send us your workshop plan so that we may accommodate it. You may wish to send us the tracks under which you want to categorize your papers or just leave the choice to us!

You may wish to get a few friends together and organize a forum, which is a half day concentration on a particular topic or want to facilitate an existing forum. Let us know at pidt@del6.vsnl.net.in.

Hurry to catch the early bird discounts! Up to June 15! There are very few scholarships for travel but many more for lodging – ‘the early bird catches the worm’ so hurry! This is by far the most inexpensive global event -  so sign up and experience incredible India with your counterparts from almost 100 countries, exchange experiences with some of the most creative and enterprising minds on this planet! The event promises to be full of cultural icons and inspiring speakers from world over.

The topic of the conference ‘Volunteering for Peace in Multicultural Societies’ will focus on volunteers as the social capital which is an essential expression of concerned care and empathy which brings social cohesion that is so necessary for a more equal and peaceful world. The conference will focus on the concerted effort by volunteers, volunteer-based organizations and volunteer networks to achieve tangible outcomes of the Millennium Development Goals and enlarge the profile of volunteering.

The conference also will explore the idea of a Corporate Volunteering Marketplace which is where non capital resources of the industry would match with needs and gaps in volunteering organizations to create best fit situations for win-win. Volunteer organizations and corporate organizations globally are encouraged to sign up their interest in this unique event.

YOUTH CONFERENCE

A very exciting part of this IAVE Conference in India will be the International Youth Conference focusing on “Youth as Change Agents” for larger harmony and equality based development. The young persons will spend two days embarking on a journey of exploration and deliberation through workshop like situations to come up with a tangible visioning of their world view. Creative young persons with an attitude, interested in drama, music, art or any other creative arts are especially invited as are professional doctors, lawyers, architects or whatever!

The views expressed herein would be carried forward at the XIX IAVE World Volunteer Conference at the Youth Forum, thrown open to all and then a Resolution drafted for the Valedictory on November 13th evening.

A special request: do take it to heart - that please bring your traditional attire along and prepare a special cultural number - a tune to whistle, a song to sing, a proverb to remember or whatever that makes the merry merrier on that special cultural evening that is ours!  We look forward to seeing you in New Delhi - come November!

THE IAVE INTERNATIONAL RESOURCE CENTER

[The following announcement was made by Liz Burns at the end of May.]

On June 30th, 2006, Wendy Stratton Executive Coordinator of the IAVE International Resource Centre will be returning to Canada to take up a new position. Wendy has done an excellent job in setting up new centre and we wish her well in her new post.

It is with great pleasure that IAVE IRC announces that Anthony Carlisle will be the new Executive Director of the Center as of June 15th 2006.

Anthony has worked in Taiwan for 14 years and most recently with the National Youth Commission in Taipei as Director for International Programs. He has worked closely with IAVE for several years, and is very familiar with our work.
He will be working afternoons at the Center and will be reachable as follows:

Anthony Carlisle
Executive Director
IAVE IRC
info@iave.org
+886-2-3322-3167
+886-2-3322-3160 fax
1 Fl., No. 31 Sec 1 Zhong-xiao East Rd.
Taipei, Taiwan

IAVE IRC would like to thank all of its volunteers, the many NGO’s and supporters of IAVE in Taiwan for making the first year and a half a fulfilling one and a great beginning for IAVE IRC’s work around the world.

IAVE WORLD PRESIDENT VISITS ECUADOR

[This article comes to us via Maria Teresa Gnecco, IAVE board member from Latin America.  We are printing it in its entirety because it is a good example of the work Liz Burns does when she travels for IAVE business.]

Voluntary transforms social structures when, in addition to being an effective activity located in a specific time and space, it is a global force that proposes new social structures with best equality and fairness conditions. The journey of Liz Burns in Ecuador has been an invaluable chance to perceive our work as a link of the worldwide chain which gradually appears stronger, gets more recognition and increments its proposing-pressure capacity.

In these lines we hope to share, with all of you world volunteer colleagues, how deeply significant the stay of Liz Burns has been for all the organizations that work on volunteering field in Ecuador.

Liz began her exigent and fruitful work agenda on April 24º and kept permanently a happy, tenacious and hard working attitude as well as the Ecuadorian hosting committee. Her first activity was a solemn session organized by the Voluntary Service General Secretary of Pichincha, SEGESVOL, and the IAVE Ecuadorian Representative Mrs. Gladys de Franco, has the pleasure to introduce Liz Burns to Ecuador Volunteers, and the meaning of IAVE for the entire world.

SEGESVOL president, Mrs. Lucia de Di Domenico, greeted Liz and shared with all the audience the experiences of ten organizations among the fifty ones that belong to the Secretary. Besides, Mr. Daizen Oda, General Coordinator of the  United Nations Volunteers Programme in Ecuador linked the volunteering work with the Millennium Development Objectives and emphasized on the effectiveness of voluntary in order to reach these goals.

In the afternoon, Liz participated of two events: a meeting with Mr. Rene Mauricio Valdes, UNDP Resident Representative in Ecuador, where both of them agreed on defining voluntary as an efficient tool of human development generation, mainly where it is most needed and shared about different volunteer experiences around the world. Moreover, the UNDP Resident Representative gave to Liz as a welcome gift a very colorful UNESCO book about the tourist attractions in Ecuador.

Later that afternoon, Liz found out the work of the Ecuadorian Voluntary Board (EVB), a 35-national and international volunteering organizations assembly coordinated by the UNV, whose main current objective is leading the adoption of volunteerism as a public policy and sponsoring voluntary projects, through a participative and active work dynamics, as well as coordinating the International Day of Volunteers (IVD), with IAVE Ecuadorian Representative. Liz positioned the EVB as a Latin-American methodological referent for volunteering work and motivated the audience by emphasizing on specific dimensions where volunteers’ work presents nowadays high-priority around the world.

On April 25º, Liz was honored with the Illustrious Guest mention by the Quito Mayor representative, the Council Margarita Carranco. Her speech put emphasis on the contribution of voluntary to Quito’s development and the Ecuadorian women role, through their volunteering work, with the aim to build a better society.  

In the evening, Liz participated in the First National Encounter of Voluntary Young People, organized by the Ignatian Voluntary Service (SIGVOL), the United Nations Volunteers Programme and the Municipal Patronage. This event constituted a new mark in Ecuadorian youthful voluntary. The main result of the event has been the National Network of Youthful Voluntary, whose main purpose is promoting and harnessing young voluntary projects as a tool for citizen participation and democratic exercise of Ecuadorian young people. Liz’s words were extremely motivating when she talked about the significance of young voluntary and showed us how young volunteers around the world construct a new solidarity, responsibility and commitment social pattern in order to reach a more equitable future. This network, headed by SIGVOL, has the big dream of placing the IAVE Youth Voluntary in Ecuador as soon as possible.

The same day, demonstrating an unbreakable resistance and domain, Liz gave a brilliant speech in front of the Quito Commerce Chamber (QCC), which organized this event as an evidence of respect to her life testimony. Taking the Corporate Social Responsibility as the main topic, her words left us a fundamental referent for a future cooperation between private enterprises and volunteering organizations, which agreed that the Ecuador progress is our mutual aspiration. 

Liz also visited Guayaquil next Gladys de Franco, a city placed on the Coast region, where the local Manager Association of Voluntary (ACORVOL) organized on 26º an exhibition of the 80 member organizations. The warm weather was darkened by the human warm of Liz, who walked stand by stand listening attentively the organizations’ testimonies, full of success and love. In the afternoon, Liz talked with mass media reporters who called attention to the importance of the Liz’s stay for the Ecuadorian volunteering.   Then, a meeting was held with volunteering organizations from ACORVOL in which Liz talked about the importance of volunteerism in Ecuador and the world. In this meeting, Mr. Daizen Oda was also present to support Liz on her mission. Gladys de Franco also give an explanation of IAVE, around the world: its structure, vision and mission.
    
Back to Quito, Liz had the opportunity to meet The Half-World Monument and to visit an  indigenous community Faccha Llacta located in the Peguche Waterfall where Liz was welcomed with a traditional and typical food. The Faccha Llacta community receives volunteers who give support in tourism and environment issues, as well as hundreds of tourists who visit daily the Peguche Waterfall, considered to be a meeting point for many Indians from Otavalo.

Also, she contemplated the Andean landscape, composed by volcanoes and lakes, and the Quito Colonial Neighborhood, with many baroque art works and buildings.
During the dinner or while drinking a coffee, we could appreciate the energy that she displays, recognizing her not only as a worldwide volunteering referent but as a solidarity, happy and professional human being, who left us the integral essence of volunteer activity.
We have been granted of many benefits from Liz’s stay: to renovate the volunteers’ motivation, to feel us as a part of a global voluntary corps, to join efforts, etc; but it is possible to underline three of them: the IAVE acknowledgment around the country, the incorporation of new actors, such as local governments, mass media or the enterprises, to the voluntary dynamics and the creation of a Network that will gradually strengthen a volunteering culture in Ecuador.
Finally, the presence of Liz in Ecuador opens a new period of work and conception of voluntary. We expect to tell you soon about the concrete work born from this sharing of experiences, know-how and essentially humanity.

The organizer committee of Liz Burns visited was leadership by Gladys Franco IAVE Ecuadorian Representative, Daizen Oda Coordinator UVP in Ecuador, Lucía de Di Doménico Voluntary Service General Secretary of Pichincha SEGESVOL, Julio César Benítez Director SIGVOL Foundation, María de Badillo IAVE Secretary.

REPORT ON IAVE YOUTH CONFERENCE IN NIGERIA

Communiqué issued at the end of a 2 day International Conference on Leadership and Youth Volunteering for MDGs and Sustainable Human Development Rights Attainment organized by the International Association for Volunteer Effort in collaboration with the Nigerian National Volunteer Service, First Lady’s Save Our Youth Campaign and Citizenship and Leadership Training Centre– May 11th -12th 2006 held at the General Aguiyi Ironsi Conference Centre- Abia State, Nigeria.

From the 11th -12th of May 2006, the International Association for Volunteer Effort in collaboration with the Nigerian National Volunteer Service, First Lady’s Save Our Youth Campaign and Citizenship and Leadership Training Centre with the support of Abia State Government organized a 2-day international conference on Leadership and Youth Volunteering for MDGs and Sustainable Human Development Rights Attainment.

The conference had in attendance over 70 participants drawn from Youth organizations, Youth involving organizations, volunteer movements across the 6 geopolitical zones of Nigeria, National Youth Council of Nigeria and the civil society family, Abia State Government, State Ministries of Youth Development from various States. Also in attendance were M.B. Attah- Country Director of World Association of NGOs (WANGO), Mallam. A.N Ahmed, Nigerian National Volunteer Service (NNVS), Mr John Mokayi of Citizenship and Leadership Training Centre, Arc. Nnenna Eluwa of First Lady’s Save Our Youth Campaign, Oyebisi Oluseyi – of Nigerian Network of NGOs.

The conference was organized to sensitize youths on the importance of volunteering for the attainment of MDGs and Sustainable Human Development Rights. Expert resource persons drawn from government circles, the academia and the civil society sector presented series of papers.

Observations

The Conference observed:

1 The effort of government in achieving the MDGs/NEEDS/SEEDS/LEEDS and Sustainable Human Development Rights but needs to do more

2 That youth involvement in the attainment of the MDGs is necessary for sustainable development of the nation.

3 That Leadership and Volunteering are important tools that could assist in carrying the process of youth leadership and involvement forward

4 That knowledge and skills acquired through education enables youth to mobilize for resources that are needed for leadership and volunteering.

5 That all over the world including Nigeria, youths are now being recognized as agents of change.

6 That there is no independent Ministry for Youths at the Federal level

7 That Nigerian youths are eager and ready to assist government in the attainment of NEEDS/SEEDS/LEEDS and the MDGs

Recommendations

The participants at this 2-day conference recognized the importance of leadership and volunteering as tools for youth development and the attainment of the MDGs/NEEDS/SEEDS/LEEDS and Sustainable Human Development Rights.

Consequent upon this recognition, we as youth organizations, youth involving organizations, civil society organizations, government agencies and individuals commit ourselves to the outcomes of this conference through effective networking and joint activities aimed at following up on the outcomes of this conference.

To achieve the objective of the conference, the participants resolved as follows:

1 That the Bill on volunteerism at the senate should be hastened and passed

2 That independent Youth Ministry should be created at the federal level and other states where none exists following the Abia model.

3 That volunteering and re-orientation of value system subjects should be included in academic curriculum from primary to secondary school

4 That Citizenship and Leadership Training Centre should put in place a framework such as special training for youth volunteers at the grassroots level and to develop a monitoring follow-up scheme for those trained.

5 That there should be active youth participation in the planning, implementation and evaluation of government policies.

6 That media coverage on leadership and volunteering issues should be strongly encouraged and explored

7 That individuals and local NGOs should take up the task of creating awareness within communities on the MDGs/NEEDS/SEEDS/LEEDS and Sustainable Human Development Rights Attainment

8 That participants should go back to their various constituencies to implement the lessons learnt at the conference and to engage governments at various levels to ensure the full attainment of MDGs/NEEDS/SEEDS/LEEDS and Sustainable Human Development Rights.

9 That Seminars/Workshops/Conferences should be organized around the International Volunteer Day to strengthen volunteerism and networking within the volunteer movement

10 That the use of ICTS for the purposes of networking should be promoted.

We pledge our support to the progress of this activity. We remind government at all levels to judiciously use funds accruing from the debt relief towards the attainment of the MDGs/NEEDS/SEEDS/LEEDS and Sustainable Human Development Rights (SHDR).

Communiqué Drafting Committee

1. Mohammed Bougei Attah- WANGO Nigeria
2. Oyebisi Babatunde Oluseyi- Nigerian Network of NGOs (NNNGO), Lagos
3. Mallam A.N Ahmed- Nigerian National Volunteer Service (NNVS)
   The Presidency, Abuja
4. Hon. Emmanuel Ngwai Dashe (KSM)- National Youth Council of Nigeria, Plateau State Chapter
5. Ihuoma Okoro- Awaka Go Forward International, Owerri
6. Okwu Maris Okwuchi, Moving Train Youth Forum-Umuahia

SCHOOLS AND VOLUNTEERS IN TUSCANY (ITALY)

[The following report is from the March/April CEV News.]

The Centro Nazionale per il Voluntariato is a volunteer centre that was founded in October
1984 as a joint initiative of public institutions and associations of volunteers, in order to meet
the demand of those who operate in the voluntary service sector.

Yearly project: School and volunteer in Tuscany

Objectives:

Train Tuscan students to solidarity, make students and NGOs closer and increase NGOs
skills.

Target group:

Students attending secondary schools in Tuscany (actually about 11.000 involved), secondary Tuscan schools (actually 76), Tuscan NGOs (actually 315).

Activities to attain objectives:

Main activities to the students:

1. Info-point: it’s a sort of front office where students can find some information about the chances in charity sector in their city. The NGOs run the front office with the support of brochures realized in a way to talk to young people

2. Stop and Go!: the activity is composed by a training in classroom (the volunteers run the meetings in an interactive way) and a brief stage in a local NGO. The students’ stages are usually focused on a peculiar aim.

3. Volunteer and School Staff: the ‘staffs’ are students’ groups who aid the NGOs to realize every kind of activities to promote the values of solidarity. The activity is oriented to support young skills to become active citizens.

4. Solidarity Camping: a camping is organized every summer to end annual activities, to reward the students more active and to make the links with them stronger. The participants are usually 25-30, the camping is one week long and the camping-days unify training moments and recreational moments.

The project works in an active way with the teachers and NGOs too: every choice is shared with them and every actor runs the activities with a network philosophy. The NGOs are supported to improve their skills in relating young people, while the teachers are supported to connect their institutional tasks with the aim to train young people as common good builders.
Partners: At the regional level: Regione Toscana (Tuscany Region), Tuscan School Bureau, CESVOT (Tuscan Volunteer Services’ Centre).  At local level: 315 NGOs and 76 schools.

Time frame: Every school year, from September to June. Solidarity Camping in July.

Contact details of responsible person:
Riccardo Guidi, +39.583.419500 – www.scuolavolontariatotoscana.it - info@scuolavolontariatotoscana.it

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