First symposium on promoting volunteerism among school students
Syria, Culture, 6/29/2005

The first symposium on promoting pioneerism among school students was held on June 25th at the Damascus al-Sham Palace hotel under the slogan "towards a generation of volunteers." Sponsored by "Areeba," the event was run by the Junior Chamber International (JCI) in Syria of the International Chamber of Commerce Entrepreneurs and the United Nations Volunteers UNV.

The symposium's agenda included an opening statement by JCI President, Mazen Mourtada, UNV program officer in Syria Stefano Cordella; and a presentation on "Learning to CARE: education, volunteering and community service by Patricia Nabti, Founding President of the Association for Volunteers Services m Lebanon.

Then followed was a two part training workshop by Nabti. Part one was on developing the guidelines for school-based volunteering and community service and part II creating an effective team ( administrator, teachers, students, NGOs, municipalities and other community partners.)

The effects of integrating volunteerism in the lives of youth and children on their emotional well-being by Adib Essali, President, Syrian association of psychiatrists; community service programs in school curriculums; Presentation on individual volunteering experience by Samir Madwar ( 18 year-old ), Jida al-Saman ( 12 year old) and Hamza Koutabi ( 13 year old).

Chandan Naji, Vice President of Rainbow For A Better Childhood raised the issue on how can volunteering initiatives by youths and children benefit NGOs.

JCI Syria prospective outlook on promoting volunteerism among youth and children was by Mayya Assaad, JCI Syria vice president for community area. Assaad said in a statement to ArabicNews.com that in Syria the ICC has sponsored the establishment of JCI Syria in order to enhance teamwork in the society and make ICC knowledge and experience available for the new Syrian generation. She said that both ICC and JCI Syria will work together to provide networking opportunities to young business people on the local, regional and international levels. She said that JCI will offer seminars on leadership skills, strategic planning, communication and personal development.

She added that JCI Syria aims to raise the awareness and the responsibility towards the community, adding that projects will be conducted to raise community and social awareness.

She hinted that JCI Syria entrance into the Syrian business community promises to enhance the ability of young business people to improve their companies and network successfully for the future in four major areas of individual, community, international and business fields.

Ms. Fumiko Fukuok, UNDP and UNV program deputy resident representative, on behalf of Ali Zatari, UNDP and UNV Resident representative told ArabicNews.com that youth are best suited to volunteer and volunteering is often their main medium of social engagement. In Syria, she said, youths represent a huge proportion of the population, with more than sixty percent of the population under 25 year-old, noting the large potential for involving youth more deeply.

She said that UNV's youths projects fall into two groups: those that were established as regional initiatives and implemented in several countries within the region and those that were implemented on a country by country basis.

" Increasing participation of young people in national policy development and promoting voluntary activities," is one of the main themes of the projects, Ms Fukuok said, noting that provision of technical training that supports young people in acquiring vocational skills that can support their economic development.

She also noted as main themes of the projects programs that focus on building confidence and identify and acquiring skills in health related areas that will allow young women particularly to increase own ability to participate in society and the economy.

She said that this symposium represents an important first step to start investing in youth service program development, the creation of an enabling policy environment, research and training in Syria.

She hoped that the outcomes of this symposium will be used by policymakers, business leaders and youth programs practitioners to learn more about "what works" in the area of youth engagement and the critical role youth play in developing civil society and in a boarder sense, democracy itself. She underlined the importance of the event in ensuring youths greater opportunities to make a difference in their communities and in the world, alike.

Mr. Fares Kallas, Areeba's public relations officer underlined the importance of such meetings which aim at achieving social and economic development in all walks of life. He noted Areeba's care to sponsoring such activities as an integrated role in its contributions to the progress of the society. Worthy mentioning that UNV program is supporting the UN system in Syria through more than 40 national and international UN Volunteers, UNV Syria is currently playing an active role in UNDP and UNHCR country offices. Moreover expertise is provided to the following UNDP projects in Syria: national capacity building for disaster management; Rural community development project in Jabal al-Hoss; strengthening the institutional capacity of the people's assembly in Syria; support the rehabilitation and sustainable livelihood in the Zeyzoun disaster area; and support to the Syrian government in the Association Agreement with Europe.

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