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August 2008
Dear users,
On the occasion of the International Youth Day, commemorated every year on 12th August, we are featuring the contributions of online volunteers -- students, recent graduates and young professionals -- to the activities of a youth-led Ghanaian NGO promoting youth empowerment and participation.
Online volunteering in itself can be an empowering experience, particularly for young adults.
It offers young people from developing and developed countries above the age of 18 the opportunity to engage in development activities, work in international teams, use their expertise to support a cause, develop existing skills and assume new roles and responsibilities.
UNV would like to thank all online volunteers for their contributions to youth empowerment and participation, and encourage young people around the world to take action for development by volunteering their skills and ideas online.
The Online Volunteering service team
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THIS MONTH'S TOPICS
1. FROM THE OV SERVICE: The New Online Volunteering Service Website: What Will Change?
2. EXPERIENCE: Online Volunteers Take Action for Youth Empowerment
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1. FROM THE OV SERVICE: The New Online Volunteering Service Website: What Will Change?
The launch of the new, multilingual Online Volunteering service website is approaching. We will soon inform you of the exact day on which the new site will go live and provide you with detailed information on the new website. Here is a sneak preview of some of the new or improved functionalities:
OPPORTUNITY SEARCH: Searching for online volunteering assignments will be quicker and easier. You will also be able to register your preferences and receive alerts when a matching assignment is posted on the website, or subscribe to RSS feeds.
VOLUNTEER MANAGEMENT: We have greatly simplified the processes for organizations, which will no longer need to perform status changes in order to take a certain action. Volunteers can be sorted by pending actions (e.g.: submit evaluation, issue certificate), and candidates who will not be considered for an assignment can be removed in one step.
FEEDBACK: You will have the option of either sharing your feedback with the other party or of keeping it confidential. Sharing your comments will allow your counterpart to evaluate his or her own performance and make any necessary changes in the future.
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2. EXPERIENCE: Online Volunteers Take Action for Youth Empowerment
Young People We Care (YPWC) is a youth-led NGO based in Ghana, whose mission is to empower young people and encourage them to engage in the development of their communities, get involved in the decision-making processes, and take a leading role towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals.
"At the age of twenty, I took a gap-year before attending university to pursue my dream of creating a non-profit organization to inform, educate and empower young people to change the world. With little or no funding, many said it would be impossible, but the achievements of YPWC, through the efforts of the volunteer staff of YPWC and the team of online volunteers, prove otherwise. Today, we even have offices in the UK, Canada and the USA”, says Michael Boampong, YPWC founder and executive director.
More than 40 online volunteers, mainly students, recent graduates and young professionals engaged in YPWC’s activities over the last year. They helped manage the website, draft project proposals, provided input in various publications, connected schools from developed and developing countries, contributed to writing the organization’s newsletter and designed publications and other print material.
After millions of people participated in the worldwide annual Stand Up Against Poverty Campaign, YPWC involved online volunteers in the publication of a report on the voices of youth demanding that world leaders keep their promises to end poverty and inequality. They also contributed to the content of the “Youth Action Guide” which provides information, tips and resources for young people to engage in the development of their communities.
Eva Tucker, a designer by trade who illustrated the two publications and designed the cover pages, says: “My work with YPWC has enabled me to interact with people around the world and to contribute my talents and education towards something that I believe can make a big difference in the world, right from my own home. My contribution was to give their print materials a professional, unified look that effectively communicates who they are and, more importantly, the message that they are trying to spread”.
Over a period of several months, a team of five online volunteers from the Netherlands, the Philippines, Singapore, Jordan and the United Kingdom worked on writing a proposal for an awareness campaign on youth migration in Ghana. The team was coordinated by online volunteer Chantal den Broeder who is currently doing her Doctorate in Trade and Development, “Besides organizing the work of the team, I drafted several sections, including one on business and entrepreneurship, which I found very interesting. I enjoyed the work, and this is in large part due to the the team members, as all were a pleasure to work with. I especially liked that we all came from different backgrounds, were in different parts of the world, and yet were able to come together and work on this project. We also had very good guidance from the staff at YPWC, who answered all our questions during the drafting process and provided us with plenty of background reading.”
Rebecca Grant, also a member of the team, says: “We were issued with a draft proposal and extensive background information, and then divided the proposal up into different sections for each of us to work on and develop, depending on our individual experience and time available. Clear and friendly guidelines were given to us by Chantal and we regularly sent e-mails to each other with drafts of our work. We also sent each other general updates on our progress every two weeks. I greatly enjoyed working with everyone on the team during this project and learned a lot about youth migration and Ghana itself. I particularly valued this experience as I was diagnosed with Crohn's disease in December 2007 and have been unable to work formally so far this year, so it's been great to still have been able to be involved in a project online, which is hopefully going to be beneficial to many.”
The proposal is going to be presented at the 2nd Global Forum on Migration and Development in Manila this August, along with the report of an online consultation on youth migration. Online volunteers are currently helping in the preparation of this consultation, and will be moderating the online discussion of young people from various backgrounds and parts of the world.
Online volunteer Céline Lemmel says: “I am preparing a paper which will serve as background information to young people who will subscribe to be part of this consultation.” The young graduate holds a master’s degree in Project Coordination and Management. She is also a volunteer in her local community where she accompanies asylum seekers in their administrative and legal procedures. She is glad to be able to contribute with her academic and practical experience to a project that addresses root issues of youth migration.
