[Webinar Series] The Common Good – Creating a Sustainable Future through Volunteering
[Webinar Series] The Common Good – Creating a Sustainable Future through Volunteering
September 5 @ 9:00 am - November 7 @ 10:00 am
Free
Background and Context
In 2022 the 26th IAVE World Volunteer Conference held in Abu Dhabi had the theme of ‘Volunteering for the Common Good: Making Life Better for People and Communities’. This theme resonated with the United Nations International Volunteer Day (IVD) 2022 – solidarity through volunteering. The United Nations Volunteers, the agency that coordinates IVD on the 5 December annually, stated in 2022 that ‘rising inequalities throughout the world implore that we need to work together to find common solutions. Volunteers drawn together by solidarity, develop solutions to urgent development problems and for the common good.‘ IAVE recognizes and commends the efforts and impact that volunteers and volunteering organizations are making every day to encourage, enable and empower individuals to take action for the common good.
In 2024 the 27th IAVE World Volunteer Conference will take place in Busan, South Korea from 22 – 25 October 2024. The theme for the conference is ‘People Power: Creating a Sustainable Future through Volunteering’ and will use some of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals as a framework for discussion. In terms of the global impact of volunteering, the UN has indicated that their 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) cannot be delivered without the involvement of volunteers. These goals are concerned with the key issues challenging our world such as eradicating poverty, fighting inequality and injustice, and tackling climate change. The SDGs are universal and inclusive, they are about a planet and its people, and they express a commitment to delivering common good for all.
The UN has stated that ‘a sustainable future is one that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.’ In working towards sustainability for the planet we are seeking to reduce our carbon footprint, protect our natural resources, and promote social equity and justice. What we realise is that achieving a sustainable future requires collective commitment and action, it takes everyone to be involved, this includes governments, corporations and civil society organizations, most importantly it requires individuals to affect the change we want and need to deliver. The ‘People Power’ of volunteers has never been more relevant or necessary.
IAVE is very aware as we move towards the 27th World Volunteer Conference that the theme of ‘People Power: Creating a Sustainable Future through Volunteering’ not only recognises and celebrates the involvement and impact of volunteers in tackling issues of sustainability across the world it also raises vital questions about how we continue to sustain and grow volunteering within a global context where the social dynamics seem to be ever more fluid, and change is the only constant. In 2022 IAVE published a briefing paper that referred to the ‘constellation of crisis’ in the post pandemic environment and set out six global trends in volunteering Future Trends in Volunteering – Exploring Synergies Across Research From IAVE, Forum and UN Volunteers.
As the 27th World Volunteer Conference focuses on the future landscape of and for volunteering this webinar series will continue to inform IAVE’s ongoing review of the current Universal Declaration for Volunteering, https://www.iave.org/advocacy/the-universal-declaration-on-volunteering/ an updated declaration is to be launched at the 2024 conference.
This 4-part webinar series will be made up of opinion pieces where invited presenters, two academics and two practitioners, set out their views on what volunteering for the common good means to them. The presenters will touch on how this relates to creating a sustainable future through volunteering and how volunteers contribute to tackling the challenges facing our communities and our world. Each presenter will focus on one or two of the SDGs that are important to them either in terms of their academic research and/or through their work within communities. They will also share, in their opinion, what we need to do to create an environment that allows volunteering to flourish and have impact.
Each session will have a single presenter sharing their experience and knowledge, followed by a moderated discussion with questions from the audience.
- September 5, 2023 – Dr Jacob Mwathi Mati, Centre on African Philanthropy & Social Investment, Wits Business School, South Africa
- September 26, 2023 – Giselle Mendez, Volunteer Centre of Trinidad & Tobago
- October 10, 2023 – Dr Bianca Fadel, Northumbria University
- November 7, 2023 – Colin Rogers, Plan International
About the Sessions
Presenter: Dr Jacob Mwathi Mati, Centre on African Philanthropy & Social Investment, Wits Business School, South Africa
Moderator: Sónia Fernandes, Social Entrepreneur, author, and consultant; co-founder of the Portuguese Volunteering School, Portugal
Topic: Creating Sustainable Futures for Africa: The Role of Corporate Volunteering
September 5, 2023 at 9:00-10:00am EDT (GMT-4)
Dr. Jacob Mwathi Mati is the Deputy Director at the Centre on African Philanthropy and Social Investment and Associate Professor at Wits Business School, South Africa. His professional experience spans over 20 years of work experience in civil society, academia and consulting in various parts of the world including: Africa, Asia, the Pacific and Europe. His research interests are centered on power, civic agency, volunteerism and philanthropy.
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Presenter: Giselle Mendez, Volunteer Centre of Trinidad & Tobago, Trinidad & Tobago
Moderator: Daniel Adugna, Acting Head Youth Division – Youth Policy & Inclusion Portfolio, The African Union Commission
Topic: A Caribbean Perspective on Volunteer Strategies for Sustainable Impact
September 26, 2023 at 9:00-10:00am EDT (GMT-4)
Giselle Mendez is Founder and Managing Director of the Volunteer Center of Trinidad & Tobago (VCTT) and is working to eliminate wasted human capital. Giselle inspires the best minds to volunteer their time to tackle the most pressing development challenges and mobilizes international networks and resources to escalate Caribbean volunteering. Through online volunteering, organisations like VCTT have been able to convene and manage large numbers of volunteers to reach those most at risk of being left behind. The VCTT team is unveiling the emerging role technology and artificial intelligence can play in scaling the reach and impact of volunteers.
Presenter: Dr Bianca Fadel, Northumbria University, UK
Moderator: Dr Amjad Saleem, Manager, Volunteering, Youth and Education Development Unit, IFRC, UK
October 10, 2023 at 9:00-10:00am EDT (GMT-4)
Dr Bianca Fadel is a Research Fellow in the Centre for Global Development (CGD) at Northumbria University, UK. Bianca’s research focuses on humanitarian and development systems and livelihood strategies in the global South, particularly in relation to the experiences of local volunteers. She works in close collaboration with humanitarian and development organisations in research activities to support evidence-based decision-making processes. As a practitioner, she has previously worked as advisor for humanitarian diplomacy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Brazil; and her experience also comprises the implementation of local youth engagement volunteering projects with the Brazilian Red Cross.
The conversation with Bianca will be led by our guest moderator, Dr. Amjad Saleem, Manager, Volunteering, Youth and Education Development Unit, IFRC. Amjad is the orchestrator of the Volunteer, Youth and Education Development Unit at the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies based in Geneva, a global team focused on volunteering management, youth innovation and engagement, and education programming. He has worked in different perspectives of humanitarian work, interfaith engagement and peace building. He applies his extensive knowledge on peace building, humanitarian affairs and development work and interfaith engagement in many domains, including as board member of the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform, People Beyond Borders and Eduspots. His publications include journal articles, several book chapters and a book on “Lessons from Aceh”.
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Presenter: Colin Rogers, Plan International, UK
Moderator: Helene Perold, Independent social research consultant, evaluator, publisher & strategist, South Africa
November 7, 2023 at 9:00-10:00am EDT (GMT-4)
Colin Rogers has worked in the humanitarian sector for 27 years in a range of crises (earthquakes, conflict, flooding, disease outbreaks and refugee situations). He is the Global Head of Disaster Preparedness & Response for Plan International and supports Plan’s country offices preparedness activities for future crises. He also supports country offices respond to new crises. He manages the core surge capacity within the organisation. He is regularly involved in discussions with UN agencies and peer agencies. He was the first elected President of Sphere, the leading humanitarian standard used by humanitarian agencies globally to ensure programme quality and effectiveness.