UNV Executive Coordinator Richard Dictus Opening Remarks ... · Conference that UNV has c0-organized with our friends at the Beijing Volunteer Service Federation. Over the past two

UNV Executive Coordinator Richard Dictus

Opening Remarks at

The UNV-Beijing International Volunteer Service Exchange Conference

Co-organized by UNV and the Beijing Volunteer Service Federation

12 – 13 October 2015, Beijing

Mr. of the Ministry of Commerce (insert name/position once confirmed),

Mr. Zhao Jinfang, Secretary General of China Volunteer Federation,

Mrs. Shengping Teng, Secretary General of Beijing Municipal Office of Spiritual Civilization,

Mr. Alain Noudehou, UN Resident Coordinator in China,

Leaders of Volunteer Involving Organizations of the People’s Republic of China, Distinguished

speakers and participants from partner countries, UN Colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen,

[Welcome]

As the Executive Coordinator of the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme, it is my great

privilege and pleasure to welcome you all to this first-ever International Volunteer Service Exchange

Conference that UNV has c0-organized with our friends at the Beijing Volunteer Service Federation.

Over the past two years, we have been shaping the ideas to jointly provide a platform for stakeholders

to foster mutual learning and sharing on volunteering for peace and development, which has brought

us all to this important gathering. I am honored to be a part of this groundbreaking meeting, and I am

thrilled to be back amongst allies from the global volunteering community in the splendid city of

Beijing!

In particular, allow me to commend the visionary leadership of the Beijing Volunteer Service

Federation to co-organize this important conference with us, under the able guidance of the Beijing

Youth League, Beijing Municipal Government and the China Volunteer Service Federation,

especially its Founding Chairman, Mr Liu Qi.

[Background and Objective]

It is very timely that we convene in Beijing just after the UN General Assembly has adopted the new

Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development. As we are concluding the era of the Millennium

Development Goals, this is a moment to reflect and draw a number of lessons.

Over the past 15 years, we have increasingly witnessed the importance of people-centered

development and the need to engage local communities in peace and development efforts if they are

to be sustainable. The new Agenda 2030 recognizes “People dimension” very strongly. Volunteering

is certainly a way to address the unfinished business of the Millennium Development Goals.

Volunteerism is a powerful means to achieve the new Sustainable Development Goals.

We have in front of us a unique opportunity to create a global platform for peer learning, for sharing

best practices, and for identifying challenges and opportunities for international volunteerism though

new and innovative partnerships. All the substantive examples, good practices and innovative

approaches you are bringing from Africa, Latin America, Arab States, Europe and CIS as well as

Asia, will generate new ideas to broaden the international volunteer movement in the post 2015

world.

[China as a Co-host]

Those of you who have visited China before surely appreciate that in many ways, it is no surprise that

Beijing is an ideal host for a gathering such as this. Exactly one year ago, I was fortunate to be in

Beijing to participate in China’s first Secretary-Generals Training of State-Led Volunteer Involving

Organizations, impeccably organized by the China Volunteer Service Federation. Since 1981, UNV

has been building fruitful partnerships with the Government of the People’s Republic of China. And

as this great nation continues its dynamic development trajectory, UNV has been actively working

with Chinese partners to promote social and economic development, through volunteering.

Volunteering has played an incredible role throughout our three decades of collaboration.

During the last year’s eye-opening experience, my colleagues and I learned more about China’s

unique culture of voluntary social solidarity, ranging from its Confucian philosophical roots to the

actions of more recent heroes such as the People’s Liberation Army hero Lei Feng. For those of you

who are unfamiliar with Lei Feng – I for one had surely not heard of him while growing up in the

Netherlands – he was a poor orphan from Hunan Province who lost most of his family members

during the Second World War, when he was just a boy. In his teens, he joined the Communist Youth

Corps and later the Transportation Unit of the People’s Liberation Army. Lei Feng is known as a

selfless, modest and dedicated person who went out of his way to help the poor and elderly during

grueling post-war conditions, with no expectation of being congratulated or paid back. Among his

sayings that I find especially inspiring for volunteers all over the word are the following:

If you are a drop of water, have you moistened the earth?

If you are a ray of sunshine, have you lit up the darkness?

If you are a single grain, have you nurtured the human being?

If you are the smallest screw, will you always stay where you are?

Since you are alive, you have tried your best to make the world a better place for your descendants?

May I ask you what you bring to the world?

For life, we should not only demand.

Do these thoughts remind us of reflections we have heard from devoted citizen volunteers in our own

countries? Lei Feng died when he was only 22 years old, after being struck by a falling telephone

pole. Yet his legacy lives on in today’s China, and its presence in the public service volunteering spirit

of Chinese youth is truly inspiring for all of us.

We also met several noteworthy representatives from Beijing’s community of over 2 million

registered volunteers, who are active in every sector of the society, particularly in protecting the

environment, assisting the elderly poor and educating the uninsured children of millions of rural

migrants who have come to Beijing for work.

[Thanking and recognizing China’s volunteering efforts]

Before I go on, I would like to pay special tribute to the exemplary leadership of the Central and

Provincial governments of China in building a solid local volunteering infrastructure to promote civic

participation in society. All of you are playing an active role in integrating volunteering to create a

harmonious, socially and ecologically balanced nation.

UNV had the privilege to work closely with both the Beijing Volunteer Federation and with Mr. Liu

during the Beijing Summer Olympic Games in 2008, when Mr. Liu was the Chairperson of the

Olympic Games Organizing Committee. Together, we mobilized and trained over 1.5 million

volunteers to make the Beijing Olympic Games such a huge success. It showcased the power of

volunteering to the entire world! UNV is very pleased to continue to work with our Chinese partners

to widely share this successful experience now with the Brazilian government to support their own

Olympics Committee. This is one of the best practices in promoting inter-regional South-South

collaboration, which UNV strongly supports. Indeed, this conference aims to deepen our

cross-border alliance and solidarity.

I fully respect Chinese President Xi’s leadership in supporting volunteer organizations to strengthen

citizen participation in social management. China has a strong track record of mobilizing large

numbers of volunteers - young and old, men and women, urban and rural - to support less developed

provinces and communities so that everyone in China can enjoy a full, healthy quality of life. Many

of you in this room who are from China are actively engaged in China’s flagship national public

service programme, the “Go West Development Plan”, which sends volunteers to serve in

under-resourced communities throughout China. Some of you may also be working with the Central

Youth League and the Ministry of Commerce to support Chinese volunteers serving on development

projects in Africa and Southeast Asia. Clearly, mutual help through volunteering is a way of life here

in China.

Sometimes I am asked if the culture of volunteering in China is very different from countries in

Europe or other regions. I have reflected on this question. During my childhood in the Netherlands, I

did not grow up knowing about Lei Feng, but I admire Lei Feng’s selfless dedication to the wellbeing

of all Chinese people. Lei Feng’s life exemplifies the compassion and practical service ethos that are

the heart of how UNV envisions volunteering for peace and development.

Let us remember that Lei Feng’s commitment is also grounded in a Confucian tradition of caring for

one’s family and community and of maintaining social stability through ethical relationships – a

tradition that is thousands of years old and one of the oldest in the world. When we look at China’s

rich intellectual and philosophical history – both ancient and modern, we can clearly see that it is this

kind of longstanding wisdom that forms the ethical foundation for a people’s desire to contribute for

social good. In a rapidly developing world, where we must balance limited natural resources with

people’s aspirations towards a better quality of life, this kind of wisdom is exactly what we need.

China is a nation whose diverse and longstanding cultures of community-based volunteering have

contributed enormously to its success in lifting millions out of poverty in a record time and achieving

nearly all of the UN Millennium Development Goals. Over and over again, China has demonstrated

that effective volunteering for peace and development has a lasting impact on the nation building.

[Rise of Middle-Income-Country-Led Volunteering and South-South Volunteer Movement]

China’s success encourages all of us to broaden and deepen our understanding of the multiplicity of

volunteer-led citizen engagement. In the recent past, we have welcomed a growing presence of

middle-income countries and emerging economies in a number of volunteering efforts. This has led

to a more equitable, solidarity-based knowledge and capacity transfer among the nations of the

so-called Global South, beyond the traditional North-South volunteer movements. More countries

are recognizing that volunteerism is a cost-efficient way for any government to address development

challenges. In fact, a recent study, which was conducted in Tasmania, Australia, concluded that for

every 1 US dollar used to mobilize volunteers, there is a return value equivalent to 5 US dollars. The

return comes in the form of human, social and physical capital.

Every year, UNV sends over 6,500 UN volunteers throughout the world to serve the poorest and most

vulnerable peoples through humanitarian, peacekeeping and development assignments. In addition,

over 11,000 of UN Online Volunteers, empowered by IT technology, contribute their time and

creativity to support various development initiatives in other parts of the world. UNV is proud that

over 80% of UN volunteers come from the Global South, many from the middle-income and

emerging countries such as Argentina, China, India, Brazil and South Africa, to serve in other

developing countries.

I congratulate all of you for being so active and influential in the global development space. It is high

time that middle-income-country advocates of volunteerism also take an even stronger role in leading

towards the sustainable development together with the United Nations. UNV stands ready to

accompany this journey.

[Plan of Action /Integrating Volunteering in the next decade and beyond]

Taking this opportunity, I would like to inform you that UNV has been mandated by the United

Nations General Assembly to present a Plan of Action to integrate volunteering in peace and

development in the next decade and beyond. UNV has been coordinating this global effort to

possibly launch a Decade of Volunteering after a Global Volunteer Conference in 2020. The Plan of

Action will be presented to the UN Member States, and the new Resolution to integrate volunteering

in the next decade and beyond will hopefully be adopted by the UN General Assembly in December

this year. Since this will only succeed with strong ownership of each one of you, I encourage you to

actively engage in the implementation of the Plan.

[Closing/leading to the Plenary I]

I have observed firsthand how volunteering is deeply woven into people’s daily lives not only in

China, but in every society represented in this room, and beyond. Volunteering is an ultimate

expression of human compassion and civic engagement. It is part of the intrinsic duty of every

member of society to care for his or her fellow citizens and for our planet. Volunteering fosters a sense

of responsibility and belonging to work for the common good in a world that is ever more

inter-dependent and inter-connected. Without strengthening our commitment to volunteering, the

hard-won Sustainable Development Goals of the Post-2015 era cannot be achieved.

This is the moment to reflect on diverse forms of volunteering that each one of us has been promoting,

discuss its evolution, and mutually share good practices and lessons learned to inform our way

forward. During the coming two days, let us deepen our understanding of various aspects of

voluntary citizen engagement and its historical trajectories in the face of a rapidly evolving global

sustainable development landscape. In order to achieve sustainable human development,

volunteering can be a driving force. Through diverse forms of volunteer initiatives, we can spread

knowledge and participatory practices to foster community ownership and long-term results, and

leaving no one behind. And UNV stands ready to collaborate with you.

We have come a long way since 1963 when 13 largely Northern countries met in Washington DC to

discuss bilateral overseas volunteering efforts, and 1968 when the then Shah of Iran suggested that

the United Nations consider creating “a legion of volunteers in the service of [all] mankind”, which

eventually led to the creation of the United Nations Volunteers programme 45 years ago. I will spare

you further history for now, as it will be discussed in the plenary session on the evolution of global

volunteering.

I trust that this Conference will be relevant to all of us. Let us be re-inspired to continue our onward

journeys ahead!

Thank you.