Presentation of the solidarity opportunities, in Italy and abroad, for citizens and organizations
On the occasion of the International Volunteer Day celebrated on 5 December, one hundred Unibo students met representatives of various organizations to learn about the opportunities offered by the EU Aid Volunteer program and other calls in the field of international volunteering and development cooperation. The EU Aid Volunteer program, in particular, offers European citizens the opportunity to carry out EU-funded European international volunteering activities.
The meeting was attended by students from different disciplines interested in learning about the opportunities offered in the field of international volunteering, also from the voice of those who have already done such an experience. International volunteering, in addition to bringing fundamental help in difficult contexts, can also be an excellent opportunity to acquire those "transversal skills" that are increasingly requested in the labor market. An event open to the public to discuss the added value of volunteering, the opportunities of student mobility towards developing countries and the exchange of knowledge between organizations.
The University of Bologna is particularly active in the field of development cooperation, starting from the "Unibo for Refugees" project, up to the choice of new destinations in developing countries included in the Overseas call and the publication of the Field Work call, following the agreement signed with Coonger, the coordination of the NGOs of Emilia-Romagna Region.
The event was attended by organizations from eight different countries - Alianza por la Solidaridad (ES), Eesti People to People (EE), Instituto Marquez de Valle Flor (PT), Latvian Platform for Development Cooperation (LV), NGO Support Center ( CY), Juanimo Karjeros Centras (LT), SLOGA (SI), HAND (HU) - together with the Italian FOCSIV, EuropeDirect, ISCOS ER and Overseas.
In addition to many international guests, present with their informative material in the exhibition space set up for the occasion at the first floor of the School of Economics and Management, two volunteers also described their experience: Alice Ticli for the EU Aid Volunteers project and Paolo Ribotta for the Civil Service and Civil Corps of Peace.
Born in 2015 after a pilot phase, the EU Aid Volunteer program aims to promote solidarity and active citizenship and respond to an increasing number of natural or humanitarian disasters with a stronger system of emergency management. After the launch of the program, a certification process was started for the organizations that joined and GVC was the first Italian NGO to be certified. Founded in the 70s with the idea of operating in developing countries, today GVC is active in 22 countries around the world. Of the 400 Eu Aid Volunteers left so far, about a hundred (a quarter) were selected by GVC and started their experience from Bologna.
