Forum Board member and CEO, Volunteer Service Abroad, Gill Greer speaks at UN High Level Event in New York
CEO, Volunteer Service Abroad and Forum Board member, Gill Greer was invited to speak at the UN “High Level” event where Heads of State reviewed their progress on the Millennium Development Goals and planned for the global development framework that will replace the MDGs in 2015. Here is the text of Gill Greer’s speech:
High-level Event Roundtable Four, 25 September 2013
Dr Gill Greer CBE, MNZM, CEO Volunteer Service Abroad and Forum Board member
This week the Secretary General stated that civil society has never been more “at the centre”, or more needed by the UN across its whole agenda. Thank you for the privilege of speaking to you as part of that relationship.
I’m from Volunteer Service Abroad, a New Zealand NGO whose founding President, Sir Edmund Hillary, conquered Mount Everest with Tenzing Norgay 60 years ago. He believed that positive relationships lead to great things. Today, with support from the New Zealand aid programme and the New Zealand public, VSA delivers his vision of people to people development, bringing together New Zealand volunteers and Pacific partner organisations to share their skills and experience. VSA is also one of 27 members of the International Forum for Volunteering in development.
Although I cannot claim to speak for all volunteer groups, I’m here today to speak about the millions of volunteers and volunteer groups around the world whose work is at the very heart of civil society, and of sustainable, people- centred development. So I want to begin by asking: can you imagine a world without volunteers? What would it look like? It would be a bleak picture because, as we know, volunteering is about action and service, and about active citizenship, social cohesion, partnership and relationships. As a result, the effect of volunteering across many critical areas of people’s lives, and on local, national and global development, can be transformational.
Millions of volunteers of all ages, and backgrounds — from young people to professionals from the private sector and members of diaspora communities — work in partnership, at home and across borders. They share their skills, experience, knowledge and passion for a better world. They choose to give their time and talents, because they share a commitment to human wellbeing. Collectively they have contributed to the MDGs, building human and social capital, and contributing to inclusive economic growth. They work across all sectors, from disaster relief to education, from IT to agriculture and conservation, from business development to water and sanitation, with children and with the elderly. The multiplier effects can be seen across countries and across generations.
With its people-to-people approach, volunteering — like all good development — draws on the ethos of shared humanity. It is integral to participatory democracy, to social justice, to fair, inclusive growth, and to environmental protection. At its best, it is a cornerstone in the creation of strong, healthy, vibrant communities which, in turn, foster wellbeing and resilience.
Recent reports and resolutions since the 2010 MDG Summit show that UN member states have increasingly acknowledged the value added by volunteers. This has culminated in the ”Secretary General’s report, “A life of dignity for all” which recognises “volunteer groups” as a constituency within the multi-stakeholder partnership that will support the ”transformative actions of the post-2015 development agenda”.
We welcome this recognition, believing that volunteering and volunteer groups have contributed to the MDGs in diverse ways, and to the many gains that have been made. Now, like others, we must work with partners to accelerate our programmes linked to those MDGs which lag behind, including the reduction of maternal mortality, and ensuring universal access to reproductive health.
Today our world is at a critical point where we must learn “to do development differently”, as recent key reports have shown.
In two years time we will embark on a comprehensive post 2015 framework to address poverty, inequality and the SDGs. According to the State of the World’s volunteerism report, countries with high levels of volunteerism are more economically and socially vibrant, and better placed to meet global challenges. So this can offer the opportunity for volunteering to be an even more effective catalyst for sustainable, people-centred development, contributing to the elimination of inequality between men and women, and inequality between and within countries.
For this work to contribute most effectively to results that count, volunteers and volunteer groups need to be recognized by local bodies, national governments and international policy makers, and their roles supported by an enabling environment.
It will also need to be acknowledged that volunteers and volunteer groups are more than implementers. They, and those they support, will seek space and opportunity to engage with governments and decision makers, to be involved in the decisions that shape their lives, here and at home, just as millions of people have done by responding to the UN’s unprecedented consultation on the post-2015 framework.
On Sunday afternoon civil society was told of the “UN’s commitment to a people-centred agenda, built from the ground up”. We take this commitment seriously and share that aspiration. Like others, those of us involved in volunteering look forward to sharing the planning and implementation of a development framework that we hope will encompass wellbeing, inclusive growth, human rights, good governance, accountability, partnership, peace and environmental responsibility.
I asked if you could imagine a world without volunteers. The answer lies in a proverb treasured by the Maori people of my country: “And I ask the flaxbush what is the most important thing in the world and it replies: he tangata, he tangata, he tangata. It is people, people, people.”