Volunteering for ECSVS

This forum portal doe not belong to one person - we put it in place when in Sechelles Seychelles the only media was SBC, Nation, the political organs of the parties - however the development, three/four new news paper.

In Europe, beside the Tourist information or all those who blog and forum-ed about Seychelles tourist destination - very little existed for the workings or information on Volunteering from a Europe wide prospective. The need to stress the possibilities is very vast. From Britain form time to time we have presented the British model of Volunteering, which differs to the French, German, Italian, Scandinavia, Dutch and the former East European countries.

There were and are those who have quarried why our preference to associate and use the Catholic many Institutions Volunteer model as a against the larger and better known EU Volunteering platform/Institutions.

It is the quality and degree of commitments and dedication - we have found and come to the conclusion the quality of Volunteering by the Catholic church related Institutions is much deeper and the quality of delivery is very different and the inter human relation much deeper, longer lasting and beneficial. For the Society, Community or land they go to deliver their respective Service.

We have emphasized this to the Church in Seychelles and Rome - expecting that would detect a demand for interaction, instead. Needless to say it make very frustrating working. When we get involved in Volunteering from a Seychelles EU prospective we engage a number of tools, resources and knowledge our community have studies, tried and become familiar since 1976.

The frustrating part is those knowing that Seychellois are predominantly Catholic and how the church works and its institutions - those of us involved in the Leadership as and when we take our cue form a given church Institutions - we formulate our concepts and policy independently. Those form the European Voluntary Sector s who have worked and had associated workings with Seychellois in and across EU - we are talking of the vast delivery mechanism /platform/usage in each respective EU member state those who may come across our issues a few times or those who are permanently engaged from several agencies and institutions.

In Britain we began to press for a different system/benchmark of accounting/accountability and Reporting for Volunteering after 1991 and the impacts - however the challenge form the political parties and other Institutions they deem and judge the Volunteers are there to do all their dirty works and they take the credit and then join the media and dictate what can be attributed to A volunteering campaign .

We have been addressing these issues for some 15/20 years now.

Having mentioned the benchmark and quality of the Catholic church Volunteer program approach - the dedication/commitment we had pre 1991 and the impacts. Given the state of EU Economy and a very great deal have been lost/destroyed from all those years of hard work it will/would require much more than your standard Volunteer best practice - it will require faith, strong will, dedication which one do not find in the none church Volunteer sector/workings.

I/we believe we ought not to be bashful to label/address the way we had started to work and the positive achievements as almost Crusade - this wording may not been accepted to many, the none christian Volunteer sector and workings. Those who have build so much dilute policies in volunteering today and what is expected of volunteers, Training, coaching and best practice. In spite of all these, the failure to deliver - compared to the old fashion benchmark of volunteering.

Having address the many different benchmark of Volunteering across Europe - more important the different ethnic, grass and people delivery based upon culture, ethnicity, religion, belief and society the live in/conformity.

ECSVS - European Council for Seychellois Voluntary Service

International Volunteer Day

05-December-2014
CEPS urges more youth to volunteer

Mr HoareauAll citizens, especially young people, are being urged to join a volunteer organisation of their interest and subsequently contribute to the development of our country.

The appeal comes in a message from Jules Hoareau, the chairperson of CEPS (Citizens Engagement Platform of Seychelles) and also the chief of volunteers in Seychelles, to mark International Volunteer Day today.

The full text of Mr Hoareau’s message reads:

“International Volunteer Day (IVD) is an international commemoration in support of volunteerism worldwide, dedicated by the United Nations in 1985. It gives prospects and opportunities to NGOs, CBOs and many other volunteers’ organisations to showcase their paramount contributions in development.

“In Seychelles, many volunteers’ organisations are striving hard to bring about positive changes through different activities for specific targeted groups.

As we observe this day, it is important for every citizen to realise that we all have a vital role to play in the process of development and nation building. As chairperson of CEPS (Citizens Engagement Platform of Seychelles) and chief of volunteers in Seychelles, I would like to remind all volunteers’ organisations of their fundamental roles of engaging people at grass-root level in the development process and ultimately generate space for active participation of the people/citizens that will lead to: good governance, peace and security, social cohesion and prosperity. Consequently as a nation work towards the attainment of the MDGs (Millennium Development Goals).

“The core focus of  IVD 2014 is not only celebrate volunteerism in all its facets, but also pay special tribute to people’s participation in making a difference locally, nationally and globally as stated by the United Nations Volunteers (UNV).

“Many volunteers’ organisations in Seychelles are doing an excellent job in different spheres namely: environment awareness, gender, economic empowerment, health and social development, consumerism etc.. However we have many challenges, one being a decline in the level of activism and volunteerism in general.

Youth involvement in volunteer activities is another challenge.  As we celebrate the IDV, I appeal to all citizens especially young people to join a volunteer organisation of their interest and subsequently contribute to the development of our country.

“With the establishment of the new platform (CEPS), the civil society will continue to work in partnership with the government and all stakeholders to ensure that the voices of the people are heard and their views are considered in the nation building process.

“As we mark this important day, on behalf of the board, I wish to congratulate and thank all volunteers in the country for their valuable contributions.

“I wish all members of the civil society ‘happy volunteers day’ and continued success in their noble tasks. Together as citizens let us be ‘united and engaged in building our nation through active dialogue, participation and action’.”

Source Seychelles nation

International Volunteer Day

05-December-2014
‘Life is much more than our individual ambition’
http://www.nation.sc/article.html?id=243852

International Volunteer Day
http://www.volunteernow.co.uk/supporting-organisations/campaigns/international-volunteer-day

International Volunteer Day
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Volunteer_Day

http://www.volunteeractioncounts.org/en/

http://www.unv.org/what-we-do/intl-volunteer-day.html