International Volunteer Day…. Deeba Shahnaz Akhtar

Volunteers are driven by a desire to contribute to the well-being of their society, without expectation of material reward. Volunteer efforts never get wasted, as it develops trust among the society, forms strong linkages between groups, enhances harmony and limits the distance. Ultimately their efforts promote civic values and social cohesion. On International Volunteer Day (IVD) on every December 5, I pay rich tribute to all volunteers for their valuable contribution to make their communities more resilient against natural and human induced disasters. Salute to all volunteers as they are giving services free of cost means Fee Sabeelillah (In the way of Allah).

Since 1985, IVD has been observed on December 5 every year to promote volunteerism, encourage governments to support volunteer efforts and recognise volunteer contributions at local, national and international levels. The campaign of IVD-2022 is to celebrate the spirit of volunteerism. We are proud of all the volunteers who have become role models in their communities by working together in solidarity and personifying inspiration in action.

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A country like Pakistan, where people are unable to come out from the issues of basic needs, they are even highly motivated to volunteer their time to transform their respective communities. On several occasions, this was felt that people are very much interested to be connected with trustworthy volunteer forums and they do whatever they can do in their capacity. The well reputed Emergency Service Rescue 1122 which is model for South Asia is committed to mobilise the power of volunteers to establish healthy safe and resilient communities. Accordingly, under Community Safety Program volunteers are being trained on three different levels and each level has its own objectives. As per directions of the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Rescue 1122 is leading organisation to execute Pak Life Saver Program to train maximum citizens on essential lifesaving skills of Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation and bleeding control to save lives.

It is also worth mentioning that the Chief Minister Punjab Ch. Pervaiz Elahi entrusted Secretary Emergency Services Department Dr Rizwan Naseer for another historic initiative of Establishment of Rescue Cadet Corps (RCC) for educational institutions in line with NCC for training of students to make them socially responsible citizens of the country. Rescue 1122 gives opportunity to all citizens and volunteers to register themselves as Rescue Scout and become the member of RCC and Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) to assist in management of emergencies and promoting safety. This holistic approach has been started to mobilise the power of humanity for developing disaster resilience and transform the communities in Pakistan through an effective and pragmatic involvement of volunteers. In this regard, Rescue Cadet Corps (RCC) APP is available to digitise all volunteers data and provide them opportunity for online registration, training on first aid, fire safety, road safety, healthy and clean Pakistan and clean environment followed by hands-on training on lifesaving skills by Rescue trainers and certification. Rescue 1122 also organises advance trainings for volunteers to enhance volunteers skills on emergency preparedness, response and prevention. The Rescue Scouts are performing their duties including emergency response, awareness raising, imparting training and conducting safety surveys after getting essential emergency and disaster management trainings from certified rescue trainers. During COVID-19 volunteers also assisted Rescue Service for distribution of 50,000 Ration Packs to deserving families and awareness raising. We appreciate all of them.

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The volunteers and rescue scouts have been provided a platform to bridge up the gap between government and communities as District Emergency Officer of Rescue Service is the Secretary of District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) and he can also present communities issues in District Emergency Board (DEB) meeting headed by concerned Deputy Commissioner of the district. In this way, the issues raised by CERT never go un addressed. We value our volunteers and highly acknowledge their contribution. I would like to appreciate the volunteer teams participating in the 6th National CERTs Challenge starting from 5-8 December, 2022, at Emergency Services Academy. This year, CERT from Disaster Management Center Sri Lanka is also participating in this challenge. Furthermore, a delegation from Disaster Management Sri Lanka headed by Major General (Rtd.) Sudantha Ranasinghe is attending this event which shows his commitment to promote volunteerism and make the South Asian region safe and resilient. The organising this international event and gathering huge number of volunteers to celebrate the spirit of volunteerism would have not been possible without the support of Total PARCO and Navid Kausar-Malik Foundation. Thanks to them and all volunteers associated with different national and international organisations like UNV, VSO Pakistan, Rescue 1122, Pakistan Red Crescent, Boy Scouts and Girl Guides Association and other organizations for their valuable contribution to develop healthy safe and resilient communities in Pakistan.

Courtesy The Nation