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Press
Release: 11 February 2008
Sharek Youth
Forum and partner youth institutions organize a discussion session on
retaining volunteering youth by institutions
Ramallah –
Professionals concerned with voluntary work recommended the creation of
a national team to develop a program of action for activating voluntary
work in Palestine; examining ways to retain volunteers by institutions;
creating a studies center on voluntary work; developing a code of
conduct for institutions on working with volunteers; creating an
association for volunteers to supervise their training, designate tasks
for them and organize their work; developing laws to regulate the work
of volunteers within institutions; utilizing the experience of retired
persons as volunteers; promoting chances for volunteers to obtain
employment in the institutions where they are volunteering; and
combating political influences and factionalism in institutional work.
These were the
outcomes of a workshop organized by Sharek Youth Forum in its premises
in Ramallah and Gaza through the video-conferencing system on "Retaining
Volunteers in Palestinian Youth Institutions." The workshop was held in
partnership with the Palestinian Youth Union, PYALARA, Cooperation for
Conflict Resolution Association, Human Rights and Democratic
Participation Center (SHAMS), Students Forum – Bethlehem, Culture and
Free Thought Association – Khan Yunes, Human Development Society –
Qararah, Youth without Frontiers – Eastern villages, Student Care
Society – Nusseirat, Target Association – Gaza, Voice of Society
Association – Gaza, Panorama / The Palestinian Center for the
Dissemination of Democracy and Community Development - Gaza, Collective
Club – Brazil Neighborhood in Rafah, Yabous Charitable Society – Rafah,
Ghassan Kanafani Society – Beit Hanoun, Palestinian Commission for
Refugees Rights Protection – Jabalya.
Workshop
participants underscored the importance of supporting voluntary-based
institutions and developing bylaws to regulate youth voluntary work or a
law to address the social, economic, political and cultural aspects of
youth work and voluntary work.
They also
emphasized the obvious shortage of trainers in he different voluntary
activities and programs, calling for the creation of a board or
commission on voluntary work in each district to be made of youth and
voluntary-based institutions, in addition to municipalities and the
district Department of Youth and Sports. The mandate of such body would
be to advance youth activism, develop plans and strategies and assist
youth institutions within the district.
They also demanded
that the different press and media outlets assume their fundamental role
in promoting and strengthening the concept of youth voluntary work in
the public and emphasizing the role of youth in community development.
They also recommended that educational institutions include in their
programs educational elements focusing on the concept of voluntary work
and its significance for development, coupled with field practice
opportunities that can help establish these values within the value
system of Palestinian youth.
In her speech in
the workshop, PYALARA director, Ms. Hania Bitar, addressed the reasons
why Palestinian youth refrain from volunteering, such as the lack of
motivation, lack of a sense of affiliation, discord between personal
interests and institutional objectives and activities, inadequate
attention by institutions to the economic status of volunteers,
credibility problems with some institutions and failure in helping the
volunteer achieve self-realization.
She also pointed
out that any institutional strategy towards volunteers should include
implementation mechanisms, volunteers' type and background, and how to
recruit, manage, train and motivate volunteers in order to strengthen
their sense of institutional belonging and sustain and upgrade voluntary
work.
Director of SHAMS
Center, Mr. Omar Rahhal, indicated that problems facing voluntary work
include the absence of coordination among institutions, the lack of
skilled professional staff to manage voluntary work, inadequate
attention to voluntary work, monopoly on senior positions within
institutions, exploitation of volunteers, as well as psychological
problems among volunteers resulting from their competition with the paid
staff, mistrust in volunteers by some institutions, unequal treatment of
volunteers and lack of rights, incentives and appreciation of voluntary
work.
He emphasized that
recruiting and retaining volunteers require the availability of healthy
environment, administrative systems and occupational promotion and the
need for promoting the value of voluntary work among the youth by their
families and for building the capacity of volunteers in order to
contribute to economic development and reduce unemployment among youth.
He asserted that no qualitative research has been conducted on voluntary
work and no programs or proposals are developed by institutions to
activate voluntarism, emphasizing the importance of professional
voluntary work and the need for creating a center for studies on
voluntary work.
Secretary General
of Sharek Youth Forum, Mr. Sufian Mushasha, elaborated on the current
situation in relation to retaining volunteers in youth institutions from
the perspective of these institutions. He pointed out that the problem
is not in volunteering but rather in the retention of volunteers. He
also talked about involving individuals other than the young groups in
voluntary work and addressed the issue of the decline in the Palestinian
living standards and in the protective social values, stressing that
potentials are still available to revitalize voluntary work.
Mr. Mushasha also
said that institutions did not manage well to handle volunteers and
maintained an exploitative relation with them; we should admit that we
face a problem in dealing with volunteers and should be aware that this
problem is easy to solve by developing a code of conduct for
institutions in regard to their work with volunteers.
Ms. Arij Atallah,
a volunteer from Gaza, presented the situation and experience of
volunteers with youth institutions from the perspective of volunteers
themselves. She talked about the experience of volunteering in some
institutions, where volunteers are exploited by the institution and face
a problem of objection by their families. She said that volunteering
should be a positive social value and universities are required to
promote this value and increase public awareness of its importance.
She noted that
most institutions require job applicants to exclude their voluntary
experience from their CVs. In contrast, international organizations
encourage voluntary work.
She stated that
volunteering has positively influenced her character and called for
building a volunteering generation, while raising institutional
awareness of the concept of voluntarism and how it can be managed in
terms of working hours and rewards.
Contrary to Arij
position, Ms. Rawan Dagher, a volunteer in Birzeit's campaign on the
right to education said she has received support from her family in
regard to her voluntary work and community activism, stating that her
father used to search for volunteering opportunities for her since she
was 12 years old.
She said
volunteers face a problem in the lack of material reward and resources
to cover transportation costs, pointing out that most youth nowadays
have a weak sense of belonging to their homeland due to various
economic, social and political factors.
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