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The volunteer question: Time to take stock
Speech delivered by Dr Astrid N Heiberg, President of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, to the United Nations General Assembly, New York
28 November 2000
Dear volunteer friends and friends of volunteers,
Everyone likes to make a difference in life. Today we are launching a year to celebrate and promote the hundreds of millions of unselfish women and men, young and old, who give of their time and energy to make a difference in their own lives and the lives of others.
Volunteer action has always been at the very centre of the Red Cross and Red Crescent idea. It all started with Henry Dunant, our first volunteer, the founder of the Red Cross and in 1901 the first Nobel Peace price laureate. When he saw wounded and dying soldiers unattended after the Battle of Solferino he organised village women to assist them. Afterwards he wrote in A Memory of Solferino:
"Would it not be possible,... to form relief societies for the purpose of having care given to the wounded in wartime by zealous, devoted and thoroughly qualified volunteers?"
From this vision almost 150 years ago grew the whole Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. Today we have National Societies in 176 countries spanning the world in a global humanitarian network involving almost 100 million members and volunteers.
The level of involvement of these 100 million people of course differ. Most are mainly supporters. Some are also lending a helping hand from time to time. And around twenty million of them are deeply involved in the day to day work of running the organisation and delivering its services. They are board members and volunteers, all working for the cause, not for the pay. And then of course we have 200,000 paid staff supporting their work and in some cases running hospitals and other institutions.
When the Red Cross and Red Crescent is mentioned, people mostly think of volunteers running with stretchers or distributing food.
But this is just a small window into our work. Our volunteers are engaged in youth programmes, first aid, ambulances, mountain rescue, telephone help-lines, disaster preparedness, disaster response, support for refugees, health campaigns, advocacy and myriad other specialised programs for vulnerable people.
Every year we serve more than 200 million vulnerable people.
Volunteer work is different from paid work. It has its own special qualities. Here are some that the Red Cross and Red Crescent find important:
- Volunteers have a strong personal motivation. This often makes a big difference for the beneficiary.
- Volunteers work part-time. Most people only volunteer a few hours a week. So volunteering can be combined with any occupation. It can continue for many years. It has a unique focus on the task. And if necessary, the time given can be expanded many times.
- Volunteers are local. They are part of the local community. They know the needs and the resources. And when disaster strikes, they are already there.
Most volunteering is done in the fast-growing non-profit sector. In economic terms, this sector today equals the transport sector. It consists of millions of organisations. Most of them are small and local. Volunteering is also done in the state and the corporate sector.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies strongly believes that volunteering benefits not only those served, but also the volunteers themselves, their organisations and society at large. Volunteering contributes to the development of the society, strengthens humanitarian values, reduces conflicts and promotes peace.
Because of this, the Federation not only wants to promote its own volunteering, but also wants to work actively together with governments, organisations, companies, researchers and others to promote volunteering and good volunteer management all over the world.
The International Federation wants to thank the Government of Japan for initiating the International Year of Volunteers. It gives us all an extremely good opportunity to promote volunteering. Let me mention four areas of special importance:
1) Celebrate volunteers. As volunteers are not paid they must be rewarded in other ways. Organisations and governments can establish yearly traditions to publicly thank them.
2) Spotlight volunteers and their work. What are they doing? Where? How many are they? What is their impact on society? This is often not known. Now is the time to find out and make this public.
3) Improve government support to volunteering. A government can make a big difference for volunteering by making it easier and more desirable for people to volunteer and to form voluntary organisations. In the Plan of Action adopted at the 27th International Conference of Red Cross and Red Crescent last year, the states recognized
"the growing importance of volunteers as providers of practical and emotional support to vulnerable people in the community, thus complementing the coverage of needs not met by the formal service delivery system."
Furthermore, states undertook to
"consequently review, and where necessary, introduce or update legislation so as to facilitate the efficient work of relevant voluntary organisations."
I call on governments to take the opportunity provided by the International Year of Volunteers to improve the legal, fiscal and political base for volunteering. The International Federation will promote and support such initiatives.
4) Improve volunteer management. But not only will we call on states to support volunteering. During this International Year we must also be prepared to acknowledge that there is much we need to do better. The Red Cross and Red Crescent has a long and proud history, but at times this means we take our strengths for granted. But we can not take volunteers for granted. It is time to take stock. We need to face up to the requirements of the modern world. It is particularly important to accept that many more people will be prepared to volunteer if we improve volunteer management and put the right kind of support programmes in place. We will work hard for improvement in these areas. We will be looking for best practice examples, and will be happy to share them with others seeking improvements in this International Year. One National Society which has developed advanced ways of managing volunteers, and from which we all have a lot to learn, is represented at this ceremony today, and I gladly recognise the American Red Cross for its work in this field.
All over the world, we need to improve our work to recruit, select, train, manage, support and reward volunteers. This can not be done by merely copying what is done in other countries, but normally needs real, innovative development work sensitive to the culture and tradition of the country concerned. To really take root in a country, volunteering has to grow from that country's unique soil.
In seeking this improvement, the International Federation will be looking for partners at all levels. While I have spoken today about the International Federation and its National Societies, I must also pay tribute to the way the National Societies work, sometimes under the most difficult of circumstances in time of conflict with the International Committee of the Red Cross.
A key to success is to recognize that we can achieve much more together with others than on our own. Our National Societies co-operate and co-ordinate with many other organisations which similarly depend on volunteers. We will be working closely with those organisations in the period ahead, and I would also pay special tribute to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and its National Committees in that context. We already have a working arrangement in place with the IOC, and would hope to turn that to great benefit during this International Year.
Finally I want to turn to United Nation Volunteers. I see you as a wonderful example of how parts of the UN system can interact with and promote civil society. Under the leadership of Sharon Capeling-Alakija you have played an extremely important role in promoting the IYV2001. I want to congratulate Secretary General Kofi Annan and the United Nations for this initiative and for the way the work has been done.
Thank you.
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