INTERNATIONAL VOLUNTEER DAY 2013 – DEC 5

Young. Global. Active.

On International Volunteer Day (IVD) 2013, we not only celebrate and recognize volunteerism in all its facets – but pay special tribute to the contribution of youth volunteers in global peace and sustainable human development. For IVD 2013 we celebrate globally that young people act as the agents of change in their communities. On 5 December, 2013 join us in recognizing all volunteers’ commitment and applaud hundreds of millions of people who volunteer to make the world a better place.

On 5 December the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme invites you to join us in celebrating International Volunteer Day (IVD) 2013, recognizing the contribution of volunteers to global peace and sustainable human development, and paying special tribute to the contribution of youth volunteers as the agents of change in their communities. The theme of this year’s IVD is both relevant and timely, particularly with the recent release of the UNV Youth Volunteering Strategy for 2014-2017 by Richard Dictus, UNV Executive Coordinator. The strategy aims to facilitate the engagement of youth in peace and development through volunteerism, bringing the voice of youth into the development discourse and helping young people to realize their full potential.

United Nations Social Development Network

Speakers’ Corner — Interview with Ashley DeRamus

YOUTH ASSEMBLY – FEATURED ARTICLE 2013

By Tornike Zurabashvili*

” We often hear that youth participation in decision-making processes should increase, but very rarely do we ask ourselves the question of how we should participate or what would be the extent and degree of our participation. The answer to this question is rather simple: no decision or action on problems facing the young people should be taken without engaging youth. United Nations has long championed these ideals in its official proceedings and among its many other initiatives, UN Youth Delegate Programme has stood as one of the oldest and the most meaningful mechanisms for youth engagement at the global level.

It has been three decades that the United Nation recommending Member States to include youth representatives in their national delegations to the General Assembly and other relevant UN conferences. Although the programme is coordinated by the United Nations Focal Point on Youth (a part of the Division for Social Policy and Development in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs), Youth Delegate’s role in general, is determined by the authority in charge of youth affairs in a country, in partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the country’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations.

Similarly, selection processes might vary country to country and individual Member States get to decide on how to identify youth delegate/s. The underlying principle is that the selected young persons need to have credible mandate and knowledge to represent youth of their countries. In the Georgian case, the representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Sports & Youth Affairs together with the incumbent Youth Delegate operate the entire selection process and determine the specific role and mandate of the youth delegate. In Georgia, a Youth Delegate is recruited through an open call, starting in April and involves three rounds of selection process stretching all the way to June. In the first round, applicants are required to submit their resume and an essay on a youth-related topic while in the second round candidates are interviewed by the selection committee. The last and the decisive step is the public speaking contest, where the shortlisted candidates are given a topic to present before the audience.

It did not take long for me to make up my mind and apply to the programme. The process appeared to be highly competitive; with around 80 candidates at the initial stage of application, the odds of being selected seemed very unfavorable. However, the combination of my previous experience in the field of youth affairs, professional and academic background in international affairs and the passion to represent Georgia’s youth helped me to succeed. Like many other Youth Delegates , before departing for New York, I met hundreds of youngsters through my extensive visits to cities, towns and villages, universities, schools and youth organizations, active student groups and individual youngsters to listen to their ideas and connect them to the work of the United Nations.

In October, following the youth consultations in my home country, I headed to NYC for the 3rd Committee of the United Nations General Assembly, which deals with issues related to social, humanitarian and cultural affairs. Within first few hours of communication with the rest of Youth Delegates, I was assured that we possessed sufficient creativity, motivation and fresh ideas to make our time a memorable experience and our work a valuable outcome for the youth we represented. While all of us had an opportunity of attending Third Committee hearings, some of the Youth Delegates, including me, were allowed to speak in front of 193 Member State representatives, where we voiced the concerns of not only our constituencies but also youth in general.

One more important part of the Youth Delegate’s work at the United Nations is organizing and attending ‘Side Events’ on youth-related matters. Like every year, Youth Delegates organized working meetings on thematic issues including, “Youth Engagement through Culture”, “World Youth Conference in Colombo”, “Children and Youth in Post-Conflict Settings”, “LGBT Rights and the UN”, “Youth Participation” “Educational Initiatives” etc. We also had a chance of meeting and sharing our experiences with the UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson and UN Secretary General’s Envoy on Youth, Ahmad Alhendawi.

Another engagement opportunity for this year’s delegates was to work on youth-related resolutions, specifically in the form of participation in the informal consultations concerning the resolution on “Policies and Programmes Involving Youth”. This resolution, negotiated by Member States, contains issues pertinent to the situation of young people and outlines ways of addressing these issues. Until the time this article was produced, approximately ten informal consultations had taken place and usually the partakers were the diplomats from Member States along with some Youth Delegates, who were allowed to participate in negotiations on behalf of the respective Member States.

Although negotiations proved to be hard and sometimes frustrating, not only did we get an invaluable experience but also we proved that we are capable of contributing equally as our elder peers and that our voice matters. We left the United Nations at different times but with the same hope that many more countries around the world will follow our suite and empower young people to voice their ideas from the floor of the United Nations. We all remain at your disposal and we will be ready to pave the way for those desiring to join this wonderful program.”

For More information about UN Youth Delegate Programme, please visit.

*Tornike Zurabashvili 23, is the Youth Delegate of Georgia to the United Nations. In October 2013, Tornike represented his constituents as an official member of the Georgian Delegation to the UN General Assembly.

VOLUNTEERACTIONHELPS – READ MORE HERE

ABOUT VOLUNTEER ACTION COUNTS

In June 2012, twenty years after the first Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the international community returned to the city to champion sustainable development at Rio+20. Civil society, governments and the United Nations joined together to examine the progress from the previous two decades and to plan the journey ahead.

Against this backdrop, United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme, the UN organization promoting volunteerism to support peace and development worldwide, united the individual actions of volunteers, amplifying their messages to the world with one voice. And so the Volunteer Action Counts campaign was born.

People world-wide spread the word about the impact of volunteering using social media and our website, and sent messages to representatives gathering in Rio. As promised, our website counted each volunteer action worldwide. By the time the summit took place, an unprecedented 64+ million actions had been counted. They did not go unnoticed.

“Let us not forget the 64 million individual actions captured by the ‘Volunteer Action Counts‘ initiative spearheaded by the United Nations Volunteers,” UN Secretary General, Mr Ban Ki-moon said to the UN General Assembly, on June 28, 2012 in New York. “This is a remarkable testament to bottom-up, grass-roots commitment. It is yet one more demonstration of how Rio+20 is mobilizing a global movement for change.”

KEEP COUNTING

With International Volunteer Day approaching on 5 December, we are building on the achievements of Rio to further raise the global consciousness of volunteering. We will be using our website and social media to gather more stories of volunteering and to broadcast these actions to the world.

We invite all volunteers—present, past and future—to sign in to our website. We want to see and celebrate what you are doing. We want to keep you informed on upcoming events, opportunities and best practices. Everyone is invited to join in, from individuals to entire organizations. Share your stories with us. Build a community. Show the world volunteering matters. Your #actioncounts.

Noble Missions for Change Team

Agnieszka Joanna Stolarczyk

VOTE FOR THIS TEAM

Online volunteer Agnieszka Joanna Stolarczyk from Poland has played a major role in boosting the visibility and recognition of Noble Missions for Change Initiative (NMI), a Nigerian NGO that works to empower underprivileged children by providing them with information, skills and support for healthy and productive livelihood.

Originally selected as researcher, Agniezska was soon appointed to new, additional roles due to her background in policy, international relations, politics and education. She helped the organization develop its leadership profile and structure, helped prepare the organization’s communication strategy, drafted the 2011 and 2012 annual reports, and coordinated and edited its quarterly newsletter, which is now distributed to over 1,000 readers around the world. As part of the resource mobilization team, Agniezska developed the organization’s first online fundraising campaign, aiming at providing 75 children with school tuition and supplies.

Agnieszka, a holder of a M.A. in Political Science and a M.A. in Spanish Language, is also a scholarship recipient from the European Commission and Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), which allowed her to study at the University of me to meet wonderful people who from time to time help me in other areas of my life. It’s beautiful to feel that you are a part of something bigger.”