Beijing—On 4 to 5 December 2011, the Volunteering for Harmonious Social Development Forum and the Volunteer Expo were held by the Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO), the School of Social Development and Public Policy of Beijing Normal University (BNU) and Beijing Hui Zeren as part of the events commemorating the 10th anniversary of the International Year of Volunteers (IYV+10).
With the theme of "Partnership for Development" the expo and forum provided a unique platform for highlighting volunteer collaborations among government, non-governmental organizations and the private sector. The IYV+10 events coincided with the 26th International Volunteer Day, recognizing the achievements of volunteers, and mobilizing and encouraging more people to participate in volunteer service.
"This forum is an excellent initiative and embodies everything for which IYV+10 stands," said Mr. Napoleon Navarro, Deputy Country Director of United Nations Development Programme in China. "I very much hope that all these wonderful initiatives will endure and prosper beyond 2011."
Mrs. Jiang Nanqing, Project Manager of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Mr. Guy Taylor a UN Volunteer at the United Nations Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) delivered presentations on how non governmental organizations can contribute to environmental protection and advocating an end to discrimination and raising awareness around HIV.
Originally launched in 2010, the expo and forum provide space to non-government and private sector organizations to showcase opportunities for volunteer service. New this year, the volunteer expo provided a full day of training on volunteer programme development and volunteer management to 135 organizations and individual volunteers. According to Mr. Wu Yu, Director of the Volunteer Service Research Center at BNU, the expo doubled in size when compared to last year. The 2011 event received more than 3,000 visitors and more than 80 organizations participated.
Through online discussions and web streaming of the forum hundreds of thousands of individuals had the opportunity to receive more information and participate in discussions about volunteerism.
During his opening remarks, Mr. Navarro said, "No matter if initiated by government, private sector or civil society organizations, volunteerism has a role to play in the achievement of China's vision of a Xiao-Kang society and much more is to be gained if efforts from all sectors are combined."
Guidance and support for the forum and expo were provided by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme, the China International Economic and Technical Exchange Center (CICETE) and the China Volunteers Association(CVA).