Constituanten:

    
          

Slotverklaring "Solidarity Festival on Commitment to Volunteering"

 Solidarity Festival on Commitment to Volunteering
International Volunteer Day, Council of Europe, 5 December 2011

 

Recommendations on Volunteering

 

The Caritas network,

  • noting that volunteering constitutes a form of action in solidarity that should be accessible to everyone,
  • further noting that that people in situations of poverty and exclusion are equally sidelined from openings for volunteering and, there too, suffer a form of discrimination,
  • aware that people living in situations of poverty are amongst the most legitimate and relevant actors when it comes to tackling the causes of these situations and imagining alternative forms of solidarity,
  • desirous of promoting the involvement of those directly concerned by poverty and injustice, so that they too can show solidarity with others,
  • convinced that this commitment is strengthened and enriched by transnational exchanges bringing together volunteers and those benefiting from their solidarity, and that these exchanges are both a source of social innovation and of cultural shifts for all,

expects the Council of Europe, guarantor of respect for human rights, to contribute to promoting equality of opportunity regarding ways of commitment in solidarity and removing the obstacles linked to all forms of discrimination in this regard;

  • believing that solidarity is a value that should be handed on and reinvented from generation to generation, and that awakening solidarity is our paramount mission,
  • concerned that this should start with infants and continue as lifelong learning,
  • educational programmes should develop practical experience of solidarity from primary school right up to university,
  • noting the absolute necessity to accompany and train the different actors, focusing on capacity-building but also on discovering the values underlying the voluntary project,
  • further noting that such training mobilizes considerable human and financial resources,
  • regretting that there is not enough recognition of the experience and skills acquired in the context of volunteering, whether on a long or short-term basis, although this recognition is essential to give due credit for volunteering, to enable active citizenship and to help job-seekers find employment,

expects the Council of Europe to contribute to promoting education about solidarity for all, at all stages of life, as a key factor for social cohesion;
likewise expects it to contribute to promoting the sharing of good practices, so as to make the most of the experience and skills acquired during volunteering;

  • testifying to the importance of complementary roles between the staff of social services, who need to be professionally qualified, and volunteers, who weave the social fabric, create bonds of friendship and represent citizens’ involvement,
  • noting an increasing commodification of social action and a disengagement of the state, aggravated by the economic crisis,
  • therefore anxious that volunteering should not be instrumentalised and transformed into a way of obtaining low-cost labour, thereby substituting for the responsibility of government or local authorities regarding social cohesion and fighting poverty,

finally, expects the Council of Europe to examine the relevance of existing, or future, national legal frameworks from the angle of human rights, in terms of protection for those persons and organisations that demonstrate practical solidarity.