Author:
By Manoj Rai, Director PRIA
I am writing this from the meeting hall at 21st floor of UNV head quarter in Bonn. The attached photograph was taken from the window just behind my chair where I am sitting now. It shows the then Parliament of erstwhile West Germany, Rhine river and part of the beautiful city Bonn. This picture is important as it relates to the key subject we are dealing with in this meeting hall. Bonn and Rhine are beautiful because of voluntary efforts of German. But nowhere these volunteers are cited. Voluntarism is respected across the regions, across the cultures and across the countries but nowhere it is appropriately recognized. Why so?
So, to recognize and emphasize the roles of voluntarism, the UNV produces State of World Voluntarism Report (SWVR) once in 2 years. It is like UNDP's Human Development Report, which is produced every year.
But UNV efforts are relatively new as first report was produced just 2 years back (in 2011). The current report would be second one in the series.
The UNV has constituted a 13 member International Expert Group (IEG) to guide and advice it in preparation of the report. The IEG comprises representatives from all key sectors (government, academia, consultancy, corporate, CSOs and the UN), who hail from different continents/regions (North and South Americas, Europe, Asia, Australia, Arab, Africa). I am a member of the IEG and beside me there is one professor from Philippines representing Asia. Rest of the members are different other continents/regions.
The current SWVR focuses on relationships between Governance and Voluntarism. How both influence each other, what are global trends, what are exemplars and what need to be done to further strengthen the relationships between two- Voluntarism and Governance.
This is the third and final meeting of IEG. First meeting was held in February 2014 when IEG identified the contours of relationships to be captured and analysed in the report. The UNV then recruited external researchers and mobilized its own system to generate/compile data from all around the world and analyse it for SWVR. The second meeting of IEG, held in July 2014, reviewed the preliminary data and suggested structure for the report and also asked for generating more data to make this report analytically robust and action-wise useful. The current meeting is the third and final one where IEG is reviewing the draft report.
So far it has been very satisfying experience in the sense that as a member of IEG, I can see how useful IEG's contribution has been. I can also see my own contributions to bring in important factors in analysis and post_content of the report which were not there in initial framework of the report. I canât reveal much now due to ethical reasons. But I am sure when this report will be released officially (sometime in early 2015), it will create a buzz to accept importance of roles of voluntarism in reforming governance. I am sure many of you, after reading the report, would notice PRIA's obvious fragrance in this report.
PRIA’s MobiliseHER team traveled to Bangalore during the week of June, 10 – 14, 2024. The aim of the visit was to gain relevant insights into the civil society ecosystem in Bangalore and meet different organisations to understand the city through a lens of gender and inclusive mobility.
Working at PRIA, often leads us to various cities across the country. Each trip is an opportunity to witness firsthand the challenges and triumphs of different communities.
Mr. Yedukrishnan V has recently joined PRIA after gaining valuable experience in the development sector. Drawing from his journey in the social sector and personal encounters in Kerala, he emphasises the importance of participatory governance and research in empowering marginalised communities.'
