International Volunteer Day for Economic and Social Development,
12:09, 5 December 2009
.. Posted in Volunteerism and Volunteer Management.. Link
December 5 - today - is International Volunteer Day for Economic and Social Development, as declared by the United Nations General Assembly per its resolution 40/212 in 1985.
This isn't a day to honor only international volunteers; the international in the title describes the day, not the volunteer.
That said, I think it's a shame to turn the day into just another day to celebrate any volunteer, rather than specifically those volunteers who contribute to economic and social development. Such volunteers deserve their own day. Such volunteers are part of the reason I bristle at all the warm and fuzzy language used about volunteers (and thanks for all those links to that blog, folks!). There are plenty of days and weeks to honor all volunteers and encourage more volunteering; why not keep December 5 specifically for volunteers who contribute to economic and social development?
And just to be clear: by volunteer, I mean someone who is not paid for his or her service, and his or her "stipend" that's supposed to merely cover essential expenses so the volunteer can give up employment entirely during his or her stint as a volunteer isn't in fact more than some mid and high-level government workers of a country are making. Yes, that's a dig.
Here's how I volunteer (no stipends yet!)
