National Volunteer Policy Soon

By Stephen Kwabena Effah
Thursday, 25 October 2007

Ghana has begun a series of fora to collate views from various stakeholders for the drafting of a national volunteer policy, George A.Gado, Director of the National Volunteer Programme of the National Service Secretariat, has said.

Speaking at the launch of the International Volunteer Day in Accra yesterday, Mr.Gado said the formulation of the policy was necessitated by the contributions of volunteerism to the country’s economy.

He said that such a policy would help government structure, monitor, evaluate and budget for voluntary activities in order to boost citizens’ interest in volunteerism as a complement to government’s development agenda in needed areas.

The day, which falls on December 5, was instituted by the United Nations to create and sustain a greater recognition of volunteer efforts, ensure the promotion of voluntary activities and foster networking among organisations and individuals in volunteerism.

In Ghana, the day which will be celebrated by the Coalition of Volunteering Organisations of Ghana with a fair for volunteers to interact with the public, will be climaxed with an award ceremony to recognise people and organisations involved in volunteerism in the country.

Mr. Gado said that the National Volunteer programme, started in 2003 with 53 volunteers in the Upper East Region, has 8,500 volunteers as at last year and is expected to increase to 15,000 by next year.

The volunteers, are post-national service graduates and retired but active teachers who are given monthly stipend.

Saying that most countries today are able to capture the contribution of voluntary work into their national budgets, he added "More governments have also shown increasing support and development of enabling environments for the growth of volunteerism."

He said the importance of volunteers cannot be over-emphasised as they are often the first to respond to calls in times of natural disasters.

"Volunteers have an innate motivation to seek to ameliorate situations either within their cultural groups or beyond," he noted, adding, "they seek to develop peace and well-being in situations of unrest and inequality as they build bridges of understanding"

Mr. Nii Doodo Dodoo, Head of Communications of the Coalition, said, the group is in partnership discussions with the National Blood Bank as regards members donating blood annually.