REPORT OF THE 2013 INTERNATIONAL VOLUNTEER DAY
PREAMBLE
Cross River State Civil
Society, through the Leadership of its Acting President, Mr. BEN USANG,
resolved to collaborate with other stakeholders in the Civil Society,
Government, Private Sector as Well as Community Groups to celebrate the 2013
International Volunteer Day in Cross River State with a Community Focus on
Diamond Hill Calabar Municipality. The Network therefore sent letters to all
the proposed Partners to join a Central Organizing Committee and work together
to celebrate the event. Agreement to participate in the Committee were received
from several Civil Society Organizations, The State Directorate for Volunteer
Service, The State Department for Civil Society/NGOs, The Ministry of Youth and
Sports Development as Well from Diamond Hill Community in Calabar Municipality.
The sum of two hundred thousand naira only was the final budget of the
committee for holding the event successfully though only a fraction of this
amount was raised.
Two meetings of the Central Organizing
Committee were held at the Supreme Coalition office at Diamond Hill, Calabar on
the 2nd and the 4th of December,2013 having the
representatives of the collaborating institutions under the Chairmanship of
Mr.BEN USANG of Cross River State Civil Society. The theme of the 2013
International Volunteer Day which was also adopted by the Central Organizing
Committee was YOUNG.GLOBAL.ACTIVE: Young people as Agents
of Change in their Communities.
Notably, at the Flag Off
Event, at the Federal secretariat Conference Hall, Comrade Ukeme Albert Ekong
won the Distinguished Young Volunteer of 2013 Diamond Award, Mr. Ntol Augustus
won the Distinguished Young Volunteer of 2013 Gold Award while Mr. Christian
Chinedu Andrew won the Distinguished Young Volunteer of 2013 Merit Award. The
Three young Volunteers have also been incorporated into Cross River State Civil
Society Agents of Change Hall of Fame and will be showcased until the next
International Volunteer Day as role models of Volunteer Service to young people
in Cross River State.
THE FLAG OFF EVENT
The Flag off event of the
International Volunteer Day was held in Federal Secretariat Conference Hall, Diamond Hill, Calabar and began at
10:00am with the Goal of:
(i)Educating and Orientating Stakeholders on
Effective Volunteerism
(ii) Building policy consensus among Stakeholders on
Volunteerism policy and programmes in the State.
(iii) Mobilizing young persons to
volunteer in their Communities
(iv) Celebrating young people who are
models of youth volunteerism in their communities.
THE FLAG OFF EVENT
FEATURED:
(i)A Welcome Address by the Acting
President of Cross River State Civil Society
(ii) Remarks from the Sarah Masale,
the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA),CRS Sub Office,Calabar.
(iii) A Good will Message from the Head of Administration,
CRS Department for Civil Society/NGOs.
(iv) A Good will Message from the
representative of the Village head of Diamond community.
(v) An Opening Address by the Representative of the
Secretary to the Cross River state Government.
(vi) Remarks, comments, inspiration
talks and questions from many of the other participants.
(vii)Free and Voluntary HIV/AIDs
Counseling and Testing by Partner organizations.
(viii) Presentation of awards to
three persons as Distinguished Young Volunteers of 2013.
(ix) Light refreshment of the participants.
(x) A Call for Volunteer Service in Diamond Community Square
(xi) Registration of Participants of the Flag off Event.
PARTICIPANTS WERE DRAWN
FROM:
(i) Three secondary
schools in Calabar.
(ii) Three Volunteer
Clubs in tertiary institutions in Calabar established by the Directorate of
Volunteers.
(iii) Several Civil society Organizations in Calabar.
(iv) Diamond Hill Community, Calabar
(v) United Nations Fund for Population Activities, CRS sub
Office,Calabar
(vi) The Directorate for Volunteer Service, Office of the
Secretary to the CRS Government,Calabar
(vii) The Department for Civil Society/NGOs, Governor’s
Office, Calabar.
RECOMMENDATIONS/RESOLUTIONS OF THE ORGANISERS AND PARTICIPANTS OF 2013 INTERNATIONAL VOLUNTEER DAY IN DIAMOND
HILL CALABAR MUNICIPALITY
The
following recommendations and resolutions were captured at the end of the flag
off event of the 2013 International Volunteer Day at the Federal Secretariat
Conference Hall, Calabar:
(i) The
need for Collaboration/synergy between Cross River state Civil society, the
department of Volunteer service and
the Department of Civil society/NGOs for the development of Volunteerism in the state and the management of an adequate Database of local and international volunteers in the state.
(ii) The funding and Construction of a
Cross River State Center for Volunteer and Civil Society Development.
(iii) The
establishment of a Commission in Cross River State that will harmonize the
functions and mandate of the State
Directorate of Volunteer Service and the State Department for Civil Society/NGOs.
(iv) The
Early commencement of the planning and organization of the yearly International
Volunteer Day among all
partners.
(v) The
designation of airtime in the State broadcasting out to focus on the Activities
and challenges of Volunteers
working in the State and beyond.
VISIT TO THE VILLAGE HEAD OF DIAMOND COMMUNITY,CALABAR
MUNICIPALITY
A
Cross section of the participants paid a courtesy visit on the Village head of
diamond community in his residence. The Village Head express his support for
the activities of Cross River State civil society and other members of the
organizing committee and the choice of Diamond Hill for the celebration of the Volunteer
Day. He welcomes the group to the community and used the occasion to intimate
the group of the history of the
community and invited the group to the annual anniversary of the community at the
end of the month.
VOLUNTEER SERVICE IN DIAMOND COMMUNITY SQUARE EVENT
The Volunteer Service team carried
out the following activities at the community square:
(i) Sweeping and parking of refuse
(ii) Cutting and weeping wild Grasses
(iii) Free and Voluntary HIV/AIDs
Testing (iv) Free and Voluntary Hepatitis testing(v) Blood Pressure Testing.
CHALLENGES
Despite the achievement of the
central organizing committee in successfully holding the above events in commemoration
of the 2013 International Volunteer day, the group was confronted with the following challenges:
(i) Inability to raise more than seventy of the budget for
the successful organization of the Volunteer
Day.
(ii) Inability to secure the participation of the proposed
Principal Resource Person for the Flag off event.
(iii) Poor financial Commitment from partner
organizations/institutions.
(iv) Poor refreshment of the participants at the Volunteer
Day events.
(v) Inability to provide transport reimbursement for the
secondary school students and other persons
who participated at the flag off event.
(vi) The private sector did not participate in the organizing
committee or support financially the events
as would have been desired by the organizers.
(vii) Late commencement of the planning for the 2013
Volunteer Day event.
LESSONS LEARNT
The following lessons were learnt in
the course of organizing the 2013 Volunteer Day:
(i) To begin the planning for the
International volunteer day four Months before the designated date.
(ii) To mobilize partner
organizations and secure their financial commitment Three months before the designated date of International
Volunteer Day.
(iii) To immediately build on the
benefits of the collaboration between Civil Society organizations and Government Ministries
Departments and agencies.
(iv)To ensure a framework is
immediately put in place to ensure that the Central organizing committee members will effectively
participate in ensuring a successful hosting of the Official Volunteer Day for the State.
(v) To devise creative strategies
that will be appealing to the Private Sector to gain their participation and sponsorship of the
International Volunteer Day event.
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