From October 16 to 20, the 26th World Volunteer Conference took place in Augsburg, Germany, with the participation of nearly 700 delegates from all regions of the world, organized by the International Association for Volunteer Effort-IAVE and hosted by the Center of Volunteering in Augsburg, entitled ‘Our Responsibility for the Global Future’.
The conference is the meeting of leaders, workers and volunteers of non-profit and non-governmental organizations, national volunteer centers, international organizations, research institutes and representatives of corporate and university volunteering programs in more than 60 countries.
Participating allows you to find volunteer initiatives that achieve significant successes from a global perspective (within the framework of the 2030 agenda and the objectives of sustainable development) and how, despite the differences between societies and places, the values of solidarity Commitment, participation and reciprocity are a key element for social, economic, cultural development, as well as for the construction of more sustainable and cohesive societies, where they can be put into practice.
The conference was attended by Mrs. Kylee Bates, IAVE World President, Dr. Kurt Gribl, Augsburg Mayor, Mr. Gerd Muller, Minister of Development and International Cooperation of the Government of Germany, Dr, Dhananjayan Sriskandaraha, Secretary General of CIVICUS, Mr. Olivier Adams, United Nations Volunteer Director, young German Felix Finkbeiner, leader of the “Plant for the Planet” campaign or leading leaders of youth organizations, such as A Techo por Colombia or Afghans for Progressive Thinking, among many others.
The conference has perfect statistics to meet with direct representatives of the IAVE members of the 5 continents, the Volunteering and High Level Center of the FCV, as well as to know and create New Relationships with Other Entities and Institutions.
Some of the most important moments will be the reading of the conclusions of the World Youth Conference, the prospection of the future and that will affect the voluntary sector, the fulfillment of the commitment with the great corporate Volunteering program by Global Corporate. The Board of Volunteers – GCVC, the meeting of IAVE members or the time of the announcement of the city that will act as the IAVE world conference, by 2020: Abu Dhabi, like the UAE, is the 50th anniversary of the ‘international organization that will promote the Universal Declaration of the Volunteer and the celebration of the International Day of the Volunteers of the People on December 5.
As it is practically a tradition, the FCV contributes with its grain of sand in the construction of a global agenda for the promotion and development of volunteering, from a global and country view, strengthening the international promotion of Catalonia, favoring the exchange of information and knowledge and the creation of new associations in the international arena between the Catalan volunteer entities and from around the world.
Lluc Martí, coordinator of the FCV ‘Active Volunteers’ program, this time moderated one of the sessions, dedicated to youth volunteers, under the title ‘Young Citizens in Action’,
where youth leadership initiatives were presented with Brazilian accent presented themselves (Brazilian colleagues), German (‘Change-In’ initiative, so that high school students participate in voluntary initiatives in their city as part of their training, with recognition of credits) and Scottish (organization of events in the framework of the Year of Youth, on the part of the same youth), in which it is his fifth IAVE World Conference, either as speaker (Delhi 2006 and Mexico 2016) or as co-organizer (Panama 2008 and Singapore 2010) . The FCV, in fact, has been part of IAVE’s structure for 3 years, creating and managing its Global Office of Youth Volunteering-IAVE Youth Office in Catalonia (2008-2010).