The Deputy Executive Coordinator of the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme, Mr Toily Kurbanov, took part in a session dedicated to volunteerism at the 2018 Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF)* on Saturday 26 May. He spoke about UNV and celebrated Russia's commitment and achievements towards the development of volunteerism. Mr Kurbanov has also announced that more Russian citizens will be joining the ranks of UN Volunteers this year.
Mr Kurbanov stated that last year 52 countries – that is more than a quarter of the international community – conducted legislative and/or normative activities to support volunteerism at the national and local levels.
At the beginning of this year, Russia joined these countries by adopting a federal law on volunteering, establishing the legal framework for regulating relations in the field of volunteering. This is a significant milestone in the history of the volunteer movement and an important step in the development of Russian civil society.
Today Russia is an important volunteer power. This is demonstrated not only by the adoption of the federal law on volunteering, but also by the diversity of volunteer activities developing in the country. We are especially pleased to see that Russia is successfully implementing volunteer activities focusing on development of volunteerism among young people, digital volunteering and volunteer programmes for older people. --Toily Kurbanov, UNV Deputy Executive Coordinator
President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, has also declared 2018 the Year of Volunteers. Within the framework of the Year of Volunteers, Russia has committed to strengthening its partnership on volunteer movement with United Nations, by encouraging more Russians to join the ranks of UN Volunteers.
With the support of Russian government and UNV, at least 20 Russian citizens will become UN Volunteers by September 2018. Mr Kurbanov announced that the call for applications will be launched in June.
We are currently coordinating available vacancies for Russians with our partners from various UN entities and will be looking for specialists of different ages and different profiles, including people working in the medical field, rehabilitation disaster relief experts and public relations specialists. Most likely UN Volunteers will be placed in the CIS, Central Asia and South Caucasus countries, but some of the positions will also be available in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America. -- Toily Kurbanov
*The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) is a unique event in the world of business and economics, serving as a platform for the discussion of key issues in the world economy, regional integration, and the development of new industrial and technological sectors, as well as of the global challenges facing Russia and other nations.
SPIEF has been held since 1997, and since 2006, it has been held under the auspices of the President of the Russian Federation.
For more information, please visit the official website of SPIEF: https://forumspb.com/