Volunteers in Yemen: Challenges and prospects [Archives:2005/903/Local News]
By: Walid Al-Saqqaf
The word 'volunteer' is rarely appreciated or even understood by many Yemenis. Observers believe the current environment in Yemen does not encourage volunteerism due to high unemployment, extreme poverty and lack of basic services.
However, several organizations in Yemen and abroad are attempting to raise awareness of volunteer work. Among them is the United Nations, which celebrated International Volunteer Day on December 5, emphasizing the need to raise Yemeni awareness of volunteerism in general and the United Nations Volunteer Program, in particular.
Whether these efforts are sufficient is still questionable.
With an unemployment rate of nearly 40 percent and biting poverty in more than half the population, one can understand that volunteerism is far down the priority list of millions of Yemenis.
Afaf Yahya, 29, a university student in Sana'a, said volunteer work is unpopular and in some instances, 'out of context.' “How can you volunteer if you have no income, no money and are concerned about the means to provide your kids with something on their plates every night?” she asked. “With all due respect to those calling for Yemenis to volunteer, I say, 'Please be serious!'”
Others disagree with this view and, in fact, have transformed themselves into long-term volunteers in the UN program.
Palestinian UN Volunteer, Dr. Najeh Al-Sadek, believes in the program's mission. “The program has achieved excellent results since I first enrolled in Yemen's UN Volunteers Program,” he said.
Having worked in the health sector of UNV-Yemen, Al-Sadek believes he has contributed to the program by volunteering in the UNDP clinic, which provides services to UN personnel and their families.
Al-Sadek is one of nine UN Volunteers in Yemen, a few of which are Yemeni nationals. However, the majority come from other parts of the world.
UNV-Yemen still seeks more nationals to enroll in its program. Another UN Volunteer in Yemen, Hiro Ishihara, works for the program itself. She said occasionally, it invites applicants to become UN Volunteers via announcements published in the Yemeni press. She explained that even though they do volunteer work, UN Volunteers receive stipends to cover work-related expenses, such as transportation, accommodation and per diems for some volunteers.
According to UNV-Yemen, since its establishment in 1971, the UN program has had nearly 600 volunteers who have assisted in Yemeni governmental and non-governmental sectors.
Remarkably, the number of volunteers seemed to have dropped in the 1990s. Since 1991, the UNV website reported only 55 volunteers in the program, less than 10 percent of the total number of UN Volunteers since 1971.
This year, the UNV-Yemen team is committed to raising awareness of the program and bringing it to the attention of potential candidates via the media and activities such as International Volunteer Day.
This is part of the framework of the global UN Volunteers program initiated in 1971. The UN itself marked International Volunteer Day on December 5 to recognize the “invaluable contributions” of volunteers in facing challenges across the globe, from natural disasters to 'silent crises,' such as poverty and disease.
In a message on this occasion, UN General-Secretary Kofi Annan said, “From the flooded streets of New Orleans to the flattened villages in Pakistan, ordinary people have risen to extraordinary challenges.”
He dedicated this appreciation to hundreds of UN volunteers and other parties who contributed to relief and rescue efforts in the United States following Hurricane Katrina and the earthquake in Pakistan and India.
“They remain the true champions of our work towards the Millennium Development Goals,” he added, recalling the commitment by world nations to fight extreme poverty and lack of health and education services in order to achieve the MDGs by 2015.
Given the fact that most UNV-Yemen activities concentrate in the public sector, the Yemeni government must do more to achieve better results for the program. UNV Executive Coordinator, Ad de Raad, conveyed this view on a global scale saying more must be done to recognize and harness “the full potential of volunteerism for development.”
UNV-Yemen's activities so far have focused on the areas of strategic financial planning and management, management development through capacity-building, human development and natural resources.
According to UNDP-Yemen, a national UN Volunteers scheme is being created “to promote the concept of volunteerism and the use of national knowledge and experiences in contributing to the development process in Yemen.”
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