Volunteerism is an essential component of any strategy that recognizes that progress cannot be measured solely in terms of economic return, it’s also about ‘well-being’. Volunteering not only delivers peace and development results; it is uniquely able to impact on the inner lives of individuals, communities and societies, binding them with bonds of trust and reciprocity (UNV Executive Coordinator, 2011).

Today, the very first State of the World’s Volunteerism Report by UNV will be launched.  See: http://www.unv.org/en/swvr2011.html and http://volunteeringmatters.unv.org/.

Check out the social media campaigns too:

http://www.facebook.com/unvolunteers

http://twitter.com/#!/volunteerplus10

Partners for Prevention, the regional joint programme on the prevention of gender-based violence for Asia and the Pacific implemented by UNDP, UNFPA, UN Women and UNV, views volunteering as an important means of working at the community level. Thus, through the coordination of a network of local and UN Volunteers, the programme is promoting volunteerism while learning from selected pilot sites at the community level around the region.

Volunteering to prevent and eliminate gender-based violence in Aceh, Indonesia

PULIH Aceh collaborated with the New Men’s Alliance, Rifka Annisa and UN Women to initiate the project, Working with Men and Boys to Prevent Violence Against Women in Indonesia, supported by Partners for Prevention.

The project’s goal is to prevent and eliminate gender-based violence and to strengthen the involvement of men in the gender justice agenda.  Through this project, speech contests for high school students are held and a peaceful rally against violence was organized with the Community Alliance Against Violence.

Speech contests for students have become a way to build and strengthen partnerships with educational institutions and increase the awareness of students on gender-based violence.  Now more students participate in activities on gender equality.

A peaceful rally reinforced the voluntary participation and contribution of men in promoting gender equality. As a result, the spirit of community involvement in gender equality and women's rights issues was awakened.

Marwan Idris, a national UN Volunteer deployed at UN Women Aceh as a UNV Project Associate, has been supporting this collaborative project. Marwan incorporates and promotes the spirit of volunteerism into its activities.

As a result of this project, the personal commitment and voluntary spirit of gender activists is strengthened. The knowledge, skills and understanding of young men are enhanced through information sharing and training sessions, which empowers them to become more involved in preventingand eliminating violence against women. Abi-monthly discussion forum among all gender equality activists in Aceh has been created.

In Aceh, people express the spirit of volunteerism through a tradition called “meusaraya” or mutual aid. This voluntary tradition based on reciprocity has become a social-cultural identity of the Acehnese society. This form of mutual self-help creates collaborative and mutually supportive communities. Communities organize themselves and build on solidarity and empathy to form the foundation for solving public affairs, supporting community progress, and sustaining societal harmony.

Women’s rights activistshave established women’s organizations and put the elimination of gender-based violence on the agenda and men are gradually joining the women’s rights movement. (Male) volunteers continue to play an important role in promoting women’s rights and assisting gender activists and organizations in implementing programmes to end gender-based violence and achieve gender equality.

Why volunteering matters in gender-based violence intervention in Cambodia

Making a difference: An assessment of volunteer interventions addressing gender-based violence in Cambodia(Research report available at: www.partners4prevention.org/files/resources/volunteer_interventions_cambodia.pdf) highlights the crucial role and the far-reaching positive effects that community volunteers play in the prevention and response to gender-based violence. This research was conducted in Cambodia by Partners for Prevention.

One reason why volunteering matters is because it addresses the needs of survivors of violence.  Living in the communities, volunteers bring added value to gender-based violence interventions as they have a better understanding of the particular situations, and are also available for support. They help to prevent violence by sharing information and raising the awareness of potential perpetrators.

Volunteering satisfies the needs of organizations because, with the help of volunteers, they can improve the coverage (including remote areas), impact and sustainability of their community programmes. Volunteers are trusted and stay engaged with the communities after their assignments are completed. They also help to build human resource capacity of the organizations they work for by providing technical expertise and support.

Finally, volunteers themselves are pleased with the change that their work produces and it motivates them to continue. They are also gratified and encouraged by the recognition and respect they receive from survivors, communities, non-governmental organizations, and even perpetrators. Volunteers appreciate the knowledge and experience they gain through their work, and feel a positive change in self-growth and their place in their families and communities.

Contributed by: Raymond Brandes, UNV Programme Specialist at Partners for Prevention; Marwan Idris, UNV Project Associate, UN Women Aceh, Indonesia; and Clara Magariño Manero, Partners for Prevention Project Officer at UN Women Cambodia.

• Tags:
• GBV prevention
• Volunteerism