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Red Cross faces new trend in volunteering
Put simply: fewer people are coming forward as volunteers and for shorter periods of time.
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For the sake of humanity – A Pontianak resident donates his blood. (thejakartapost.com/Severianus Endi)
A
t a major global meeting in Antalya, Turkey, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) elected on Monday Italian lawyer and humanitarian, Francesco Rocca, its new president for a four-year term. He will take the reins of the world’s largest and oldest humanitarian network at a time of unparalleled humanitarian need and complexity.
The new president will immediately be confronted by an array of global priorities — the impact of climate change on already disaster-prone communities, protracted crises around the world that have decimated social and economic infrastructure, the massive movements of people fleeing conflict and violence, and the need to grow the Red Cross and Red Crescent volunteer base.
This latter issue will be chief among the new president’s concerns. He or she will quickly need to focus on the growing dangers faced by volunteers everywhere and the changing nature of volunteering around the world. The Indonesian Red Cross Society (PMI) has a strong volunteer network that covers our entire country. They are our strength — and the reason that PMI can respond quickly and effectively to emergencies both large and small. These local heroes have excellent credentials to do this work. They speak the local language, understand the local culture and are committed to helping their neighbors.
Volunteers represent an irreplaceable lifeline in times of conflict, natural disasters and disease outbreaks. Without them, countless communities would be left alone and without aid. The vast majority of humanitarian first responders are local volunteers, who often act as the major or even exclusive humanitarian players within crisis settings.
