The glue that holds society together

 

By Giuseppe Porcaro*

(in collaboration with Letizia Gambini)

Young volunteers all around Europe experience the power of volunteering every day. It is a simple recipe: get involved! Care! Ever been a volunteer? Yes?! Then you know what we mean! Spending your time doing something meaningful and making a difference. Volunteering and participating in youth organisations. Young volunteers are at the heart of democracy, as dynamic actors for social inclusion, growth and active citizenship.

It is for these reasons that volunteering policy is a core issue for the almost 100 Youth Organisations members of the European Youth Forum. They are volunteer based, volunteer led and represent millions of young people engaged in voluntary activities every day. The II Youth Convention on Volunteering taking place from 7-11 September in Brussels is the perfect occasion to celebrate their engagement and showcase their activities. Over 800 young volunteers from all over Europe will transform Brussels into the European Capital of Volunteering. With them, we will join our efforts to reaffirm that everyone has the right to volunteer, because everybody has the right to be an active citizen! Volunteers are often described as being the ‘glue’ that holds society together. Even in Europe, where the volunteering landscape is as diverse as its citizens, the variety of forms of volunteering should be viewed as a vital dimension of democratic and social life.

2011 is the European Year of Volunteering, but still today many (young) people who want to volunteer are not able to and the ones who do volunteer face many different problems, ranging from limited access to opportunities to monetary issues to legal barriers, etc. The European Youth Forum is convinced that 2011 must answer the needs of the millions of active citizens volunteering every day. During the Convention, we will discuss with European decision-makers, youth organisations and civil society the development of a European Charter of the Rights of the Volunteer.

The Charter aims to provide a harmonised framework defining key terms and a set of guaranteed rights and responsibilities of the volunteer. It should ensure equal opportunities for volunteers and their organisations throughout Europe, so that volunteering is truly accessible to all. Look around you: there are millions of (young) volunteers out there, helping old people, driving ambulances, running activities for kids with disabilities, promoting campaigns for human rights…

Every day, volunteers contribute greatly to Europe’s social growth and dedicate their time to make our societies a better place to live in. Think it’s only rhetoric? Imagine a world without volunteers…

* Secretary General of the European Youth Forum.

 

 This article is taken from the Special Report on European Volunteering which can be dowloaded above.