25 April 2006

Colombo, Sri Lanka: The government of Sri Lanka and the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme today launched a new initiative to set in motion the establishment of a volunteer infrastructure to position volunteerism as a contributor to the country’s development agenda.

The Volunteer Information and Coordination Centre (VOICE) project is a two-year initiative of the Ministry of Social Welfare and UNV, with assistance from UNDP, to facilitate and guide a national process to establish VOICE as a statutory body charged with promoting volunteerism.

VOICE will build linkages between civil society and the government to ensure volunteerism is seen as a people-driven mechanism to support efforts to eradicate poverty, promote gender equality, foster youth development and contribute towards other nationally identified development priorities. Several ministries are on board and will provide assistance in such areas as policy, legislation, and monitoring and evaluation. A steering committee will also be created with representation from volunteer involving organizations, NGOs and the media.

“Volunteerism has a vivid and long history in Sri Lanka,” said Okama Ekpe Brook, UNV Programme Officer for Sri Lanka. “VOICE will act as a catalyst, ensuring the role of volunteers is properly supported and recognized.”

VOICE will serve as a national clearinghouse on volunteerism, providing citizens with access to a wealth of resources and information on volunteering. The creation of a database that matches potential volunteers with volunteer involving organizations is planned and will provide a simple route for people to engage in volunteer activities. VOICE is also targeting youth to increase their participation in development as well as to strengthen their skills through training and internship opportunities. To fund such initiatives, resource mobilization will target both the public and private sector.

The project was unveiled at a special ceremony in the capital city. Abu Y. M. Selim, UNDP Sri Lanka Country Director, and Douglas Devananda, Minister of Social Services and Social Welfare, delivered opening remarks, followed by speeches and congratulatory messages from several prominent people, including national cricket player and volunteerism spokesperson Muthiah Muralitharan.

VOICE is a result of extensive research carried out in Sri Lanka in response to the International Year of Volunteers (IYV) 2001. The findings identified the establishment of a national volunteering centre as a vital and necessary step to bolster volunteerism in the country.