ERMERA, 05 december 2022 (TATOLI) – This monday, the 05 december 2022, International Volunteer Day (IVD) was celebrated in Gleno, municipality of Ermera, along with Volunteer Agencies such as United Nations Volunteers (UNV), Australia Volunteers Program (AVP), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), Volunteer Service Abroad (VSA), Peace Corps, Red Cross, UNE-TL, TYIFD, DMUN and MOVE. Other UN agencies, the Secretariat of State of Youth and Sport, East Timor Coffee Institute (ETCI) and Local Authority were also represented in the event.
The IVD is mandated by the UN General Assembly in 1985 and held each year on the 05 of december. The day is an opportunity to promote volunteerism, encourage governments to support volunteer efforts and recognize volunteer contributions to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.
This year the theme was ‘Solidarity Through Volunteering’, which aims to strengthen the right attitude of providing assistance and support voluntarily within the community.
The event attracted huge interested from local people who participated in large numbers.
During the event, several individual and group volunteers were presented with awards for their commitment and contribution to their communities. One of the recipients in the field of Social Media & Communication was Mariano from SMNewstimor whom has been continuously providing voluntarily, important and crucial news information and has since gathered a huge following.
One of the speakers, Jamie Fouss, Country director of Peace Corps Timor-Leste, said that 25 volunteers will arrive next january and some even will be dispatched to Ermera municipality, to which the participants applauded profoundly knowing that volunteers will finally arrive for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic to provide support in crucial areas. He thanked the host families that have opened their doors to receive the volunteers.
JICA was represented by Lourenço Hornay, the Program Officer for the Volunteer Unit, that informed the Japanese Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCV) program would resume next year 2023, with five volunteers expected in Timor-Leste next january to volunteer in the fields of Health and Education.
“Due to Covid-19, all 37 Japanese volunteers returned to Japan, but next year 5 volunteers will arrive to provide assistance to their host organizations. We are all very excited about the volunteers’ return”, said Hornay at the event.
He said that since april 2010, 116 Japanese volunteers have volunteered in Timor-Leste and in doing so contributed immensely to the development of Timor-Leste.
Volunteers from Japan have been dispatched to Timor-Leste for cooperation in the areas of Agriculture, Tourism, Health and Social Welfare, and Education and Sports.
Hornay called on all people to cultivate the spirit of volunteering in order to contribute to better lives of the communities in the country, “I would like to encourage those people who are currently volunteering to keep sharing their experience with others. So, keep up the good work. Let’s develop Timor-Leste together and move forward.”
Journalist: Filomeno Martins
Editor: Nelia Borges
