Rwanda joined the international community on 5th December to mark the International Volunteer Day that is marked to recognize and promote the tireless work of volunteers across the world.v
This year, the day was marked under the theme “Solidarity through volunteering” and it highlights the power of collective humanity to drive positive change through volunteerism
The Minister of National Unity &Civic Engagement Dr. Bizimana Jean Damascene said that volunteer activities in Rwanda are still few and far , this is due to the lack of a policy to regulate volunteerism
Franklin Mugambira from VSO said that the contracts signed by NGOs with volunteers are in fact no different from employment contracts due to the lack of the said policy.
He said youth are energetic and have the effort to do different things, thus helping in building their country, adding that through volunteerism, young people acquire new skills that result in an experience that will help them to secure jobs in the future.
Minister Bizimana encouraged the public to play their part in supporting the government, declaring that by doing more volunteerism work.
“Volunteering isn’t for the unemployed. Employed people are also welcome to do volunteerism work in their spare time. “For instance,” he continued, “those working in the education sector, like teachers, can spend their holiday time teaching youth to avoid taking drugs.
The recommendation on this topic was that there has to be a better way to prepare the volunteerism policy to orient those with different skills so that they can know the available priorities they can lend a hand to.