24 August 2010

Guangzhou, China: When the 2010 Asian Games are held in Guangzhou, China, in November, its organizers expect approximately 60,000 volunteers to serve at the Asian Games venues.  In addition, 30,000 are due to cover the Paralympic Games which will follow and another 500,000 volunteers will be stationed throughout the city. 

The success of the participation of volunteers in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games can be credited in large part for the breadth and scope of the voluntary action planned for the coming Asian Games.  The 2010 Asian Games, also known as the XVI Asiad, offer significant potential to further promote volunteerism for development. 

The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) were quick off the mark to recognize this opportunity. 

In July, UNV and UNDP held an international forum on voluntary service development in Beijing and a training camp for 300 volunteer team leaders in Guangzhou. 

These activities, organized jointly with the Beijing Youth League (BYL), the Beijing Volunteer Federation (BVF), the China International Economic and Technical Exchange Centre (CICETE), the Guangzhou Asian Games Organizing Committee Volunteer Department and the Guangzhou Youth League, were held to support the Asian Games volunteer effort and build long-lasting capacity beyond the Games.

On 22 July, more than 250 people attended the international forum entitled “Volunteer China, Harmonious Asia”, to examine the development of voluntary service through the Olympic and Asian Games. 

The one-day event brought together researchers, scholars, practitioners, volunteer organization leaders from China and abroad as well as youth from several universities in Beijing to exchange ideas and share cases on how volunteers can contribute to social and development goals. The forum reviewed the contribution volunteers make in disaster risk reduction, humanitarian and emergency relief as well as in effecting environmental and community development. 

Heads of the various organizing and supporting agencies literally joined forces to open the forum by pushing against a boat’s rudder which caused a sail with the forum’s title to unfurl.  Ms Silvia Morimoto, UNDP Deputy Country Director, focused on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in her opening remarks.

Mr Wang Huan Qing, secretary general of the Guangzhou Youth League and head of the Ghangzhou Asian Games organizing committee volunteer department, Mr Wang Shaofeng, Beijing Youth League secretary general, Mr. Zhao Zhongyi, CICETE Deputy Director General, and Mr. Guo Ping, Deputy Head of the Central Youth League Volunteer Department also addressed the attendees.

To symbolize the transfer of the Beijing volunteer legacy to the Guangzhou Asian Games volunteers, Ms Morimoto, on behalf of the “Strengthening Volunteerism for Development in China through the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games” project, presented the Ghangzhou Youth League secretary general with a copy of “Experience, Value. Influence”, a research report on the Beijing 2008 Olympics and Paralympics.

The program included a morning forum hosted by Deng Yaping, Beijing Youth League deputy secretary general, and a roundtable in the afternoon hosted by Prof. Tan Jianguang, director of the Guangzhou Asian Games Volunteers Research Center, and Prof. Zhang Xiaohong, a BVF consultant.

The latest research results were presented as were accounts from international organizations like UNV, Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) and the Jane Goodall Institute.  Speakers also addressed the role volunteers can play in large-scale events such as the Beijing Olympics, the Shanghai Expo and the Guangzhou Asian Games.

In the afternoon round table, Mr Oliver Wittershagen, UNV Portfolio Manager for East Asia, introduced the work of the United Nations Volunteers around the world and gave a vivid example of how volunteers can be deployed to address public concerns and development issues with a thorough presentation on Disaster Risk reduction. 

Ms Henny Ngu, UNV China Programme Manager, talked about how UNV works in China. More than ten experts addressed the round table on a variety of topics, including the state of the national legislation on the voluntary sector, community development volunteering and corporate social responsibility and volunteerism.

The forum represented a new step in the promotion of the Beijing Olympic Games volunteer efforts, providing an international platform and a solid theoretical basis to the Guangzhou Asian Games volunteer initiative as well as deepening the understanding of volunteerism for development.

On July 24, the "Guangzhou Asian Games Volunteer Leader International Camp" was launched at the Guangzhou Asian Games Center to enhance the management level of 300 volunteer team leaders and to encourage them to further apply the acquired knowledge and skills to long-term regular volunteering after the Games.

Experts from Singapore, the United Kingdom and UNV as well as national experts from the Beijing Olympics trained the group in how to manage volunteers professionally and effectively for mass sports events.

The trainers took the participants through the stages of the Volunteer Management System, showing them how to respond to emergency situations, how to communicate with the media as well as how to engage volunteers in community based activities and disaster risk reduction programmes.

The participants were encouraged to aspire to improve the quality of the volunteer service and continue to participate to voluntary activities before and after the Games as a means to address development challenges.

The project ‘Strengthening Volunteerism for Development in China through the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games’ was launched in July 2007 as a partnership between the Beijing Youth League, Beijing Volunteer Federation, China International Center for Economic and Technical Exchanges, United Nations Development Programme and United Nations Volunteers programme, with the objective of harnessing the enthusiasm towards volunteering that had been boosted by the Beijing Olympics  and promoting volunteerism as an effective means towards development.

Documenting the Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games volunteer experience, sharing it with the national and international community and promoting mutual beneficial learning opportunities on volunteerism is one of the main objectives of the project in the post-Olympic phase.