Volunteerism is a powerful means of engaging youth in tackling challenges, Sardar Samiullah Abbasi – PRCS
Volunteering plays an important role in empowering individuals, in fostering active citizenship and in building inclusive and resilient communities in which we can all flourish. We know that volunteering has many benefits for individuals who volunteer, the organizations to which they contribute and society as a whole.
The Dayspring has spoken to Sardar Sami Ullah who is working with Pakistan Red Crescent Society – PRCS which has already taken 1.8 million volunteers on board who are making difference in their respective societies thus benefiting Pakistan at large.
Youth in Pakistan
Pakistan is currently one of the youngest countries in the world and the second youngest in the South Asian region after Afghanistan, of the total population. 64 percent is below the age of 30, and 29 per cent is between the ages of 15-29 years.
Volunteerism is a powerful means of engaging youth in tackling development challenges, and it can transform the pace and nature of development. Volunteerism benefits both society at large and the individual volunteer by strengthening trust, solidarity and reciprocity among citizens, and by purposefully creating opportunities for participation.
Role of PRCS in Promoting Volunteerism
The pride of PRCS remains the success of infusing spirit of service among people without the discretion of class, color and creed – the volunteerism of PRCS. Today, PRCS is proud to have more than 1.8 million volunteers attached to its programmes in various forms. Pakistan Red Crescent is contributing to International Federation of Red Cross & Red Crescent “One billion coalition for resilience” by registering 5 million volunteers across Pakistan under PRCS Strategy 2020, but there is a dire need of large scale awareness at the grass root level for the achievement of this goal
Volunteerism at PRCS enhances the ability to deliver high quality service to the vulnerable in an efficient manner by bringing in new skills, enthusiasm and a fresh perspective to the activities of the society.
Youth and Volunteers are considered as the backbone of the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement. The involvement of youths and volunteers plays a vital role in carrying out the Pakistan Red Crescent (PRCS) activities and maintaining strong links and regular interaction with the communities. Our volunteers act as a catalyst of change in the society. The Youth and Volunteer Department, PRC provides the right channel to those who strive to improve the lives of the vulnerable.
Future of Volunteering
The world of volunteering is constantly growing and developing, and new trends have started taking place. For many, volunteering is still mostly established by the goals of the organizations that they support. This notion is changing – many organisations no longer determine what kind of influence volunteers have on the community but let the volunteers decide who and how they want to help.
Following are some of the trends that can be discussed as future of volunteering:
1) Micro volunteering and involving children, ages 7-14, form as trends governing the future of volunteering.
2) More ownership from tech-savvy volunteers for potentially more tasks are completed online and off site.
3) It will also be important to learn how to engage “older” people into volunteering. Population is ageing and “older” people can play a meaningful part in volunteering as well and offer their learning and experiences. We need to create exciting opportunities for “them” as well.
4) To be able to be relevant not only on the big scale and internationally, but also locally; with all the new technologies we have now at our disposal, the new forms of media, and new generations that are raised to be more socially and civilly engaged, it is way easier for volunteers to create maybe their own local campaign, find supporters among their friends and do something quickly and with fast results.
5) Organisations like ours give young people something to stand for, principles and moral ground; we live in the time of social media and fake news, and decreasing trust in governments, media and institutions. For young person, it is extremely difficult to know who and what to trust, and what to believe in. One of the things in the RCRC that I believe still is and will be attracting people to us in the future is our fundamental principles.
6) Incorporating new technologies and innovations in our work is inevitable. We should look into the resource we already have – we have so many volunteers with different talents and skills, who come from the communities we work with, and might already have an answer for our challenges. Another aspect would be doing partnerships, there are so many organisations and businesses we can work with to do new things, to achieve more and to be better.
