Volunteerism and Disaster Risk Reduction & Management

1. Volunteerism andDisaster Risk Reduction & Management Oliver Wittershagen Portfolio Manager East Asia Development Division United Nations Volunteers May 2011

2. Outline • United Nations Volunteers • Volunteerism – latest trends • Volunteerism and Disaster Risk Reduction • Hyogo Framework for Action • UNV’s strategy • Volunteers in action • Key recommendations

3. United Nations VolunteersOur Goal • UNV contributes to peace and development through volunteerism

4. Volunteerism for peace and developmentWhat we believe • VOLUNTEERSM • Can transform the pace and nature of development • Benefits society at large and individual volunteers • Is universal, inclusive, diverse • Assists social inclusion and promotes access to services • Is a way for communities to understand their needs, gain recognition, participate in development solutions

5. United Nations Volunteers • Volunteerism for Peace and Development • 7,545 UN Volunteers (natl and intl) serving full time in 128 countries from 158 countries • Average age 37 years old, with 5-10 years working experience and over 100 professional categories • 42% in crisis prevention and recovery

6. Volunteerism – latest trends • A shift away from a giver and receiver model of volunteering towards a more reciprocal relationship from which all parties benefit; opening up opportunities for excluded people to participate in volunteerism as an approach to promoting social inclusion. • Advances in global electronic volunteer networks and online volunteering are redefining the notion of “community”. • Growing interest among Governments in valuing local cultures and traditions of volunteerism and adapting them to modern-day circumstances.

7. Volunteerism – latest trends (cont.) • Recognition of volunteerism is being accompanied by calls for increased professionalism in formal volunteering management. • Growing interest strengthening measures such as volunteering-friendly policies and legislation, tools for measuring economic contributions, service volunteer schemes and volunteer centres. • Private-sector interest in employee volunteering as an expression of corporate social responsibility.

8. Hyogo Framework for Action (cont.) “Strategic management of volunteer resources” “Wider opportunities for engagement and more support to NGOs, CBOs, and the promotion of volunteerism to be addressed more systematically and effectively if enhanced and sustained capabilities are to be realised within local communities.” • “Promote community participation in DRR” “volunteerism was cited as an important contributor in creating community engagement and therefore improved resilience” “building on spirit of volunteerism”

9. Volunteerism and DRR:UNV’s strategy • At the national level, UNV and volunteers can: • support establishment of common awareness and understanding of crises among key stakeholders, including local authorities and local communities; • support governments in preparing and implementing crisis-sensitive development and recovery plans, including establishing and/or strengthening national volunteer programmes for disaster relief; • advocate for recognition of the contribution of volunteerism in designing disaster risk reduction plans;

10. UNV’s strategy (continued) • facilitate development of institutional capacities of national and/or local authorities to strategically manage, support and monitor local volunteers and civil society organisations; and • provide coordination, operational and technical support to district administration and NGOs, including volunteer involving organisations in the implementation of disaster risk assessment and reduction plans. • At the community level, UNV and volunteerism can: • create space for inclusive dialogue and support the capacity development of community-based organisations and communities to engage, empower and mobilise community members in grassroots disaster risk management efforts;

11. UNV’s strategy (cont.) • raise awareness, promote preparedness, and conduct community level hazard, risk, vulnerability and capacity assessments as a significant step towards development of a local disaster plans, feeding into district and national disaster plans; • mobilisecommunity contributions (volunteer, in-kind and financial resources) for implementation of local disaster risk management plans; • facilitate the inclusion and participation of affected communities, especially women and youth, in the planning and implementation of disaster risk management plans and tools; • revitalise community members’ voluntary mutual support practices and self-help activities for implementation of disaster risk management plans.

12. Volunteers in action • National UN Volunteers facilitate relationship between local authorities and communities (India) • National UN Volunteers support local authorities to involve communities in disaster preparedness activities (Sri Lanka, Nepal, Ecuador) • Community-based disaster-preparedness plans (India, Sri Lanka); community-based training (India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka); community-driven environment restoration projects (Sri Lanka)

13. Volunteers in action (cont.) • Support to institutional capacity development of National Volunteer Movement (Pakistan) • Organised and long-term involvement of community members in disaster risk reduction activities (Cuba) • Support to capacity development of NGOs and CBOs in the area of disaster risk reduction (Ecuador) • Volunteer-based training-of-trainer programmes (Ecuador, Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia)

14. Recommendations • Ensure inclusion of volunteerism in national disaster management programmes with a focus on local capacity development • Establish rosters that allow rapid deployment of disaster management specialists that are able to support aid coordination efforts and fill immediate capacity gaps • Establish national and/or local volunteer schemes that facilitate management of massive influx of spontaneous voluntary action • Mainstream volunteerism and the role of volunteers in all sectors of national development plans • Develop enabling environment for volunteer action

15. THANK YOU! Oliver Wittershagen Portfolio Manager Development Division United Nations Volunteers Oliver.wittershagen@UNVolunteers.org