5 DECEMBER – World Volunteering Day
"Together we can, through volunteering"
World Volunteer Day was designated by the United Nations General Assembly in December 1985 to recognise the work, time and skills of volunteers around the world.
This year’s day is dedicated to the struggles of volunteers during the pandemic: it has a blue heart as its symbol and aims to highlight the key role, but also the issue of access to care, of volunteers who are at the forefront of Covid emergency response: a key role, also highlighted by the World Health Organisation, but which has not been “sufficiently recognised, especially with regard to welfare and access to care for volunteers themselves”.
“Together We Can Through Volunteering” is the slogan of 2020, around which the United Nations Volunteers have disseminated all communication materials (the hashtag is #Togetherwecan) to be used in particular on social and public events, which this year will be almost exclusively online.
A blue heart.
To be posted on social media, attached to walls and even drawn on masks.
The initiatives are coordinated by UN volunteers who promote peace and development in communities around the world, while maintaining the ideals and aspirations of the United Nations: to support peace initiatives, humanitarian and medical aid, human rights monitoring and the support of socially useful non-profit organizations.
NUMBERS, PROFILES AND HORIZONS OF ITALIAN VOLUNTEERING
"The phenomenon of voluntary work in Italy," explains Professor Riccardo Guidi, "is very multifaceted, perhaps more than we think. Providing the numbers is always very dangerous because the data are susceptible to defects, even when the official Statistics Institute collects them. However, we can say that there are about 7 million people who engage in voluntary activities, either through organisations, more or less formalised groups, or individually, i.e. without resorting to any organisational intermediation. These 7 million are Italians and Italians who volunteer in very different ways, what emerges is an overall number but within it there are many profiles, many ways of doing voluntary work".
The Good Shepherd Sisters in Peru also celebrate World Volunteer Day
"Today we celebrate our lay partners in the mission by recognising
the richness of their skills as we continue on a journey together."
