State to formulate volunteer policy, Labour PS Kassachoon says
Volunteer work contributes about four per cent to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), according to government statistics.
This was revealed during the annual Red Cross Society of Kenya awards ceremony at a city hotel on Thursday.
Kenya Red Cross alone has more than 111, 000 volunteers across the country, with 70 per cent of the volunteers being young people.
The government acknowledges that despite its significant contribution to the economy, volunteerism in Kenya remains uncoordinated and inadequately unsupported.
ECONOMY
Presently, the country does not have a legal framework to support and protect people who participate in voluntary work.
This is, however, expected to change once the government establishes a national volunteer policy.
In a statement read on behalf of Labour Permanent Secretary Khadijah Kassachoon, the government said it has set up a 25-member national standing committee to facilitate the process.
Committee members are drawn from the key ministries of education, health and youth and social services.
The mandate of the committee includes drafting a legal framework and establishing a secretariat that will help to institutionalise volunteerism in the country to optimise its contribution to the economy.
This, the PS said, will help to protect the rights and welfare of volunteers, provide for their accreditation and provision of incentives to motivate them.
Dr Kassachoon also revealed that the government is seeking to introduce volunteerism in the school curriculum to inculcate the spirit of participation in community service among the youth.
From December 1 to December 5, Kenya will mark the Volunteers’ Week where volunteers who have participated in the socioeconomic and political development of the country will be honoured.
CONFLICT
Speaking at the Kenya Red Cross Volunteer Awards 2017, the organisation's Secretary General Abbas Gullet said they were involved in many missions this year mainly because of electoral-related conflicts Kenya has witnessed in the last four months.
“We call upon more corporates to come on board and support us in every way possible to enable us to carry out our work of alleviating human suffering in times of crises and disasters,” said Gullet.
During the ceremony, Nurain Abdul from Mombasa County won the Michael Sululu Volunteer of the Year Award for her continued while Najat Ibrahim clinched the A.A. Molu Lifetime Achievement Award.
Mohamed Faud from Lamu County won the Youth Volunteer of the Year Award. Faud, 26, quit his teaching career to help rehabilitate drug addicts from Lamu and Mombasa counties.
Mombasa County scooped the Branch of the Year Award.
Corporal Moses Nyaga Kimenju from Murang’a County was honoured with the Community Service Award for his efforts to fight in jiggers Murang’a. Nyaga is also an addiction counsellor.
The Junior Red Cross Award went to Mugona Girls from Tharaka Nithi County while Egerton University retained the University Chapter Award it had won in 2016.
The Special Recognition Award went to Safaricom for its consistent support of humanitarian causes in Kenya.
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