Volunteerism and the common good

Saturday, 16 November 2013 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By Lahiru Dissanayaka and Lushanya Dayathilake Volunteering is a technique which enhances development of any social group. An Individual or a team of people who come forward to work free, to achieve results for the common good. Human evolution began with the concept of volunteering as our ancestors found that groups become intrinsically affluent when someone take over doing a difficult task for which he/she is good at.

In most cultural groups volunteering was generally an essential behaviour that was conducted as a part of their day to day life. When we look at the historical stories such as David vs. Goliath, the importance is more apparent. Although the use of the word volunteer was more recent as 1755 “one who offers himself for military service”, by M. Fr. Voluntaire, the concept was obviously in use long before in both military as well as religious groups. The word volunteering predominantly coincides with the word community service. The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the world organisation of sovereign parliaments, in 2001 adopted a resolution at its 168th session in Havana urging parliaments and their members around the world to identify and adopt policies to encourage volunteerism and to establish a legislative framework supportive of voluntary action from a good governance perspective. This was adopted by International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and United Nations Volunteers - http://www.ipu.org/PDF/publications/volunteer_en.pdf. Inspirations, they make people feel hope when it comes to uplifting the standards of the community as a whole. Nonetheless it is to generate hope and corporation towards well-being of the nation’s youth. I would love to share my generous ideas of a commitment that is immensely beneficial to bring dreams of the affected youth into light. I do hope Commonwealth Youth Forum (CYF9) is blessed with individuals who possess talents, which could be called as the cream of the Sri Lankan youth and I do feel the energy and the enthusiasm among them till the last moment from the very first day. I walked into the Magam Ruhunupura International Convention Centre while it was under construction before weeks ago from here and even today I still feel the team leaders Kawshi, Kemiya, Keshini, Praveen, Prarthana, Pansilu, Sethwya, Sahani, Shirantha, Eshan (Coordinator) and I are still the same bunch of people who stand up for one another and who would not stop talking about the well-being of the youth as a whole in an international perspective. After all we are blessed with a team of young professionals and student volunteers.