Roma, 8 dic 2011 16:17 - (Agenzia Nova) - “Capable of Intending and Giving”: The celebrations of this year’s International Volunteer Day opened with this slogan last Monday in Rome and gathered 40 thousand associations and millions of volunteers who work every day to “single out needs and provide solutions.” The event – organized by Third Sector Forum, the Standing Conference of Volunteer Associations, Federations and Networks (CONVOL) and the National Coordination Body of Volunteer Service Centres (CSVNET) – saw the participation of the President of the Republic of Italy, Giorgio Napolitano as well as the Minister for International Cooperation and Integration, Andrea Riccardi; the President of the Latium Region, Renata Polverini; the Minister for Labour and Social Policies, Elsa Fornero; and the Vice-President of the Chamber of Deputies, Rosy Bindi.

The purpose of the event was to give voice to the 40 thousand associations and the 3,800,000 volunteers working on a daily basis in the health, environment and education sectors to provide support to the most vulnerable and promote the fundamental rights of the individual in Italy and throughout the world. As the journalist who chaired the debate, Daniela De Robert, pointed out, “Volunteering is not a Utopia, but a movement which, particularly thanks to the work and commitment not only of young people, but also to the experience of those who have dedicated their whole lives to solidarity-based projects worldwide, is helping to change the world.

Roma, 8 dic 2011 16:17 - (Agenzia Nova) - One of these is Riccardo Giavarini, who received the “International Volunteer Award 2001,” bestowed by the Federation of Christian Organizations for International Voluntary Service (FCOIVS), from the President of the Republic. For 35 years, Giavarini has been directly involved in cooperation projects in Bolivia. “Firstly,” as the volunteer specified, “by fostering democracy during the dictatorship, and secondly, by promoting products from the Andean Region, while today our work is focused on the protection of the rights of the young inmates of the La Paz prison and the fight against the trafficking and exploitation of minors between 12 and 17 years of age.”

Giavarini, born 56 years ago in Telgate, in the province of Bergamo, is the regional coordinator of the initiatives of the NGO, “ProgettoMondo Mlal,” in the Andean Region (Peru, Ecuador, Paraguay and Bolivia.) Last August, thanks to one of the projects under his supervision, the Social-Rehabilitation Centre in Qalauma – Bolivia’s first juvenile prison – was inaugurated. The centre, currently hosting 32 detainees, was created with the help of the Italian and Spanish decentralized Cooperation, the Diocese of El Alto, the Italian Episcopal Conference (IEC), Caritas Italy, UNICEF, the Archbishopric of Cologne and the NGOs Pan Para el Mundo (Germany) and Intervida (Spain).

“Volunteering,” as Giavarini commented, “is not the desire to be in the limelight, but a collective effort that enriches and gratifies; one learns much more than one gives. This is true above all when rights are exercised together and social policies which result in a commitment on the part of the State to support the rights of the most vulnerable are developed.” Giavarini’s words were echoed in moving letters written by a number of dedicated Italian physicians working overseas in international cooperation projects organized by the NGO, Doctors without Borders.”

Roma, 8 dic 2011 16:17 - (Agenzia Nova) - Silvia Stilli, national advisor of the Association of Italian NGOs, emphasized the importance of advocating cooperation and integration, two indissolubly bound issues of the utmost importance, and added that she hoped the recently created Ministry for International Cooperation and Integration will give new momentum to this commitment. “We are extremely happy about this not only because to set up more effective projects the dialogue with immigrants is crucial, but also because after the cutting back on international development projects in recent years the time for change has come.”

The presence in the Auditorium Conciliazione of a group of friends and relatives of Rossella Urru, the Sardinian volunteer kidnapped in Algeria at the end of October by a terrorist group, reminded Ms. Stilli how volunteering is an increasingly risky job. “Deciding to become a volunteer,” affirmed the representative of Italian NGOs, “means deciding to live your life in adverse situations: we are witnesses for peace. Italy has given, and is still giving a lot both in terms of presence at international level and sadly in terms of the loss of human lives. Like us, the Italian government through the Crisis Unit of the Foreign Ministry, took action immediately in a bid to save Rossella’s life.”

Roma, 8 dic 2011 16:17 - (Agenzia Nova) - As Third Sector Forum spokesman, Andrea Oliviero, pointed out, “Because of the times we are living in and the cultural, economic and social crisis we are going through, we need to advance proposals for new social, inclusive and solidarity-based models which call for individual and social responsibility of thought and action on the part of everyone concerned. The volunteer service and Third Sector Forum are ready to face these challenges and to take on the responsibilities entailed in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, along with all the other components of civil and political society, from the institutions onwards.”

Oliviero called on the institutions to “pay particular attention to the young by offering them the opportunity to experience solidarity first hand through, among other things, the Voluntary Civil Service and international cooperation, both invaluable instruments which appear to have been set aside in recent years.” The Third Sector Forum spokesman added that, “Giving, gratuitousness and solidarity are the values from which we draw inspiration and we will continue to apply these values to face first and foremost ethical challenges and not only economic and social ones.”

Roma, 8 dic 2011 16:17 - (Agenzia Nova) - Elsa Fornero, Minister for Labour and Social Policies, recalled that International Volunteer Day coincided with the 150th Anniversary of the Unification of Italy. Ms. Fornero affirmed that “Volunteering is essential for the growth of an individual. Generally speaking, the actions of a person are motivated by self-interest and the benefits involved, and this is a very narrow-minded view of human action. Contrariwise, volunteering enriches the human and social capital of both those who practice it and those who receive it; it strengthens cohesion and the sense of belonging to society and encourages behaviour that contributes to economic growth.” The Minister also assured those present regarding the commitment of the government to guarantee the efficient management of the allocation of tax return funds obtained through the so-called “5 per mille” programme.

Roma, 8 dic 2011 16:17 - (Agenzia Nova) - During her address, Emma Cavallaro, President of CONVOL, took stock of the International Year of Volunteers. “We also worked in the two previous years to produce a programme,” she pointed out. “A number of meetings were organized at European level during which it emerged that not everyone intends the same thing when speaking of volunteering. In Italy the concept is based on gratuitousness and places relationships at the centre of one’s activities, not the exchange of services. From this moment on, what we want is a more solidarity-based Europe for everyone. It must also be stressed that one of the principle objectives of volunteers is to raise critical consciousness: we are sentries, but above all people who cannot be neutral. Volunteers speak clearly and they report when necessary, otherwise there is the risk of their becoming accomplices in certain circumstances, and this is true at both national and international level.”

Roma, 8 dic 2011 16:17 - (Agenzia Nova) - During the course of the celebrations the “Volunteer’s Appeal” was presented to the President of the Italian Republic, Giorgio Napolitano. The document, a manifesto drawn up especially for the occasion by the three organizations that promoted the event, reads: “The Volunteer Service has contributed to making solidarity widespread and practised by many. Today it is a structured entity that operates through the work of almost 6 million volunteers and that enjoys the trust of the vast majority of Italians. This makes us particularly aware of having to bear the responsibility of our actions and of the need to continue to respond, along with the other civil society and political entities, to the evermore pressing requests for help from those who are still excluded from the fundamental rights of the individual and citizenship. We operate in every field, both in emergencies and on a daily basis, to give our lives meaning and hope to others, working concretely and bringing demand for change.”

“We pledge to collaborate,” the Appeal continues, “in the awareness of the complexity of our situation, and to continue cooperating with social forces and institutions, offering our skills and social action totally free of charge. We pledge to raise public awareness of the need to create a new model of social, cultural and economic development. Our appeal is addressed to everyone as together a concrete effort can be made to spread a culture of volunteering based on solidarity, fraternity and equality so that the giving, the gratuitousness and the values entailed become a common good and the basis for our social life. We will be looked back upon as the originators of solidarity, subsidiarity and civil participation.”