Promoting Volunteerism for Peace and Development

DURING YOUR ASSIGNMENT . 19Taking an inventoryUnderstanding the various resources –especially human resources – available toyou during your assignment will help younot only to carry out your assignment, butalso to come up with ways to promotevolunteerism for peace and development.Below are some suggestions for taking aninventory of the resources available to youduring your assignment.Mapping Your EnvironmentAt the outset of your assignment, it ishelpful to ‘map out‘ the social context inwhich you will be working. This includestrying to identify the various peer groups orsocial groups in your environment andassessing the extent to which they sharethe belief that volunteering can make asignificant contribution to the developmentprocess. (Keep in mind that they may useother terms or expressions to describevolunteering, or may not even recognizevoluntary actions as volunteering.)The following groups can be critical to thesuccess of your assignment – and eachgroup provides an opportunity for you tointegrate volunteerism for peace anddevelopment:■ Your colleagues – those who workclosely with you;■ Former UN Volunteers (national andinternational);■ Your supervisors;■ Beneficiaries of your project orassignment – e.g., patients, farmers,trainees, vulnerable groups, disastervictims, etc;■ The wider local community – particularlymarginalized groups such as people withdisabilities, young people or women;■ The local expatriate community – ifthere is a local expatriate community, itsmembers may also be a resource;■ Other volunteer-involving organizationsor volunteer-sending organizations;■ The media – the media cancommunicate human interest storiesthat highlight the impact of your efforts;■ The private sector – businesspeoplemight volunteer their time, andbusinesses might provide funds or inkindcontributions to support yourproject or initiative;■ Local leaders – e.g., elders, faithhealers, religious leaders, communityorganizers, among others;■ Local institutions – e.g., the municipal orlocal administration, schools, hospitals,etc;