INTERNATIONAL VOLUNTEER DAY: AFRICAN UNION CELEBRATION PANEL

On 5 December, Dr Moses Okech joined the African Union’s International Volunteer Day celebrations for a panel discussion centred on the roles of volunteering to promote inter-citizen solidarity in the African Union Member States, drawing upon lessons learned from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, and Uganda.

The panel discussion was organised by the African Union Commission, Youth Development Division; the African Union Reference Group on Volunteerism; and the Continental Volunteer Linkage Platform (CVLP), and facilitated by CVLP’s Continental Coordinator, Dr Meshesha Shewarega. The online event was attended by 85 participants who actively contributed to the discussion.

During the panel, speakers shared experiences and insights from five different African countries (DRC Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Uganda) on the impacts of volunteering in relation to inter-citizen and inter-community solidarity (e.g. social capital, people-to-people interactions), as well as inter-country and inter-regional forms of solidarity (e.g. South-South cooperation).

During his presentation, Dr Moses Okech discussed key findings from RYVU research, particularly on the roles of volunteering in the relationships between refugees and host communities, the impacts of volunteer work on refugee livelihoods, and the ways COVID-19 affected volunteering experiences amongst refugee youth in Uganda.

In the occasion, RYVU resources were also shared with participants as the project’s policy briefings and interactive games were launched in Arabic, English, French and Swahili to mark International Volunteer Day 2022 celebrations.

You can watch the online recording of Dr Moses Okech’s presentation in the video below: