Volunteer
Network Project
We are excited to inform
you about the Cyprus Volunteer Network Project,
a new initiative to boost volunteerism in
Cyprus. The project, funded by UNDP-ACT, aims
to increase volunteerism and access to
volunteers through the establishment of a
Volunteer Center, a public awareness campaign
and this website. The website will be utilized
to showcase upcoming events and post new
opportunities for volunteers.
Volunteering is an
important, if not vital, aspect of an active and
thriving civil society. Consequently, its
development, encouragement and growth are
important pre-requisites in enhancing the role
of CSOs in particular and civil society more
generally. The recent CIVICUS: CSI Report for
Cyprus provides verifiable empirical evidence
that the general level of volunteering in Cyprus
is low and represents an impediment in realizing
its full potential.
This project proposes to build networking among
local CSOs on the thematic area of volunteer
action. The project aims to tackle this
important problem in a strategic and long-term
manner. This will be achieved through two
complementary forms:
1.
Creating and sustaining a CSO Volunteer
Network.
2.
Developing and maintaining a Volunteer
Center acting as a leading resource center for
information and support on volunteerism,
including volunteer placement.
The CSO Volunteer Network has been formed and
additionally, an Advisory Group has been
appointed to support the Volunteer Centre and
the project in meeting its objectives.
An in-depth and focused study on volunteerism in
Cyprus was conducted in the preliminary stages
of the project. This research aimed compile more
concrete findings on the local definitions of
volunteerism and samples of local volunteer
action. (Please see “Research Section”)
The next necessary steps to address the
obstacles of volunteerism are to build a local
supporting infrastructure and CSO capacity to
support organized volunteer action. The
Volunteer Center’s main objective is to promote,
support, and celebrate volunteer work both
locally and globally. In order to reach its
objectives, one of the Center’s functions will
consist of matching the supply/demand of CSO's
and potential volunteers as well as acting as a
resource center on issues related to
volunteerism in Cyprus. The Management Centre in
the Turkish Cypriot community and the NGO
Support Centre in the Greek Cypriot community
are operating the Volunteer Center.
In addition, a representative from each
organization was sent on a training tour to the
United States to meet with other volunteer
involving organizations in order to create a
manual. (Please see Training Manual in CSO
section)
The last step of the project is to launch an
island-wide public awareness campaign to promote
volunteerism.
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