Volunteer! Make a difference! Volontari! Facciamo la differenza! Стани доброволец! Дай своя принос! Oferă te voluntar! Schimbă ceva!
giovedì, January 20th, 2011
The year 2011 is dedicated to the people that give their spare time to others, to those working unpaid to improve the life of a person or the community, to all the people hoping for a more democratic and inclusive growth.
After long debates and thanks to the requests made by the associations working in the volunteering field, on 22nd of January 2010 the European Council published on the Official Journal the decision that stated: “Volunteering is one of the most important dimensions of democracy and active citizenship, where the European values such as solidarity and not-discrimination become a reality and for that reason will contribute to the harmonious development of European societies. "
The European Year is one of the activities promoted by ONU for the tenth anniversary of International Year of Volunteers (IVY). All the coordinating bodies have planned their activities referring to the Manifesto of European Volunteering.
An important role is going to be played by civil organizations operating in the volunteering field. For these reasons the local impact will be very strong due to the engagement of private and public stakeholders in the building of a new social reality.
The European Year aims to raise awareness and encourage as many people as possible to volunteer and give their own contribution to the building of a better society.
The Year’s goals are:
- facilitating voluntary activities overcoming current obstacles;
- strengthening and supporting the organizations improving their working coditions;
- encouraging the involvement of citizens recognizing, for example, the competencies acquired during the volunteer activities;
- raising public awareness about volunteering.
More of 20% of European citizens are involved in volunteering activities and they consider it as a basic element of democratic life, that enables to foster social connections, to make a contribution to the welfare and, at the same time, acquiring new skills.
The European Year of volunteering aims at increasing the relationship between the organizations working on local and European level, in order to create a stronger and a larger network of solidarity, able to involve new sectors, such as, for example, sports.
A National Agency will coordinate all the planned activities, and will be the reference for any kind of information for the volunteer and the people who wish to undertake a volunteer experience.
The programme of events planned in the European offices and major cities of Member States, is crowded with appointments.
A team of volunteers along with a group of shifting volunteer reporters, like in a relay race, are going to spend 10 days meeting social operators and politicians in each country of the Member States. At the end they will publishing all articles and audiovisual services done around Europe on the media.
Four thematic conferences will be organized on the key issues of volunteering.
(The program is available at http://europa.eu/volunteering/it/home2).
Although the lack of social policies, the economic crisis involving all member states and the impact that this had on the citizens’ life and on the social organizations, the 2010 European year combating poverty and social exclusion and 2011 Year of Volunteering, demonstrate the will and the need, at European level, to fill a void of conscience and to restore a shared sense of cohesion and solidarity for the common wellbeing.