Please share this message! Landmark year for volunteering for development. Canadian and international support for volunteering for development reached new highs in 2014. The Canadian government expressed its support for international volunteering as evidenced in Minister Paradis’ speech last May at a meeting of the Canadian Council for International Cooperation. « Volunteering is one of the most direct ways that Canadians contribute to development efforts…. For over 20 years, we have been financing international volunteer programs. And we will continue to do so. » The Minister proceeded to launch three calls for proposals focused on international volunteering. Since 2009, through the Canadian government-funded program, over 7000 volunteers from all parts of Canada have contributed to the development processes of some 43 countries helping to promote sustainable economic growth, advancing democracy, promoting food security, advancing womens rights and defending the interests of children and youth. Canadian volunteer organizations are widely recognized across the world. This October, at the annual meeting of the International Forum for Volunteering in Development (Forum), a global network of volunteer cooperation organizations this October, seven Canadian organizations were represented by their delegates, volunteers and partners, more than any other country. This meeting led to the Lima Declaration, a statement recognizing the important role of volunteering in achieving sustainable development. The declaration has already gathered 55 signatories including many Canadian organizations. Further international support for volunteering is recognized in the United Nations’ Synthesis Report of the Secretary-General On the Post-2015 Agenda, released just yesterday, formulating a vision for the role of volunteerism in development: As we seek to build capacities and to help the new agenda to take root, volunteerism can be another powerful and cross-cutting means of implementation. Volunteerism can help to expand and mobilize constituencies, and to engage people in national planning and implementation for sustainable development goals. And volunteer groups can help to localize the new agenda by providing new spaces of interaction between governments and people for concrete and scalable actions. Ten Canadian organizations are currently implementing programming supported by DFATD: CESO, Canada World Youth, CECI, Crossroads International, CUSO International, Engineers Without Borders, Oxfam-Québec, SUCO, World University Service Canada, Youth Challenge International. If you’d like to learn more about Canada’s international volunteering program and CESOs program in particular, please visit ceso-saco. Please help us spread awareness about the importance of volunteerism.
Posted on: Fri, 05 Dec 2014 13:31:03 +0000
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