KL conference attracts 100 working papers on power of volunteering

KUALA LUMPUR: Close to 100 working papers on the benefits and management of volunteering will be presented at the 15th Asia Pacific Regional Volunteer Conference of International Association for Volunteer Effort (IAVE) here from Nov 22 to 26.

It will be organised by Yayasan SALAM Malaysia, a local NGO involved in humanitarian work, under the auspices of the Washington-headquartered IAVE, which promotes volunteering through 64 national volunteer centres and three regional volunteer networks.

SALAM won the bid to host this year’s event as part of its 20th anniversary celebration. Held biennially, this also makes it the first major international conference on volunteerism to be held in Malaysia.

SALAM Chairman Datuk Ahmad A. Talib said, in a statement, yesterday that the five-day conference would explore the diversity and power of volunteering with the first two days dedicated to efforts of youth volunteers.

Topics that will be explored during the conference, to be held at the KL Convention Centre, is designed around six major topics which hold particular interest in the Asia Pacific region. They are leadership; technology and social innovation; sustainable development goals focusing on poverty, education and climate change; financial sustainability; corporate volunteering and strategic partnerships.

Ahmad said the conference was expected to attract about 600 foreign and local delegates involved in volunteering efforts, especially in the areas of measuring the true value, impact and social returns of volunteering.

He said SALAM would welcome more participants eager to know more about volunteering as well as potential exhibitors who wanted to promote their products and services during the conference.

Ahmad said speakers at the conference include Tan Sri Dr Noorul Ainur, secretary-general of the Higher Education Ministry; Datuk Zuraidah Atan, chairman of Yayasan Sukarelawan Siswa; Sue Hennessey, country director (Borneo) of Raleigh International; Jihoon Park, team lead, BBB Korea; Nuntinee Malanon, manager, Volunteer Spirit Network, Thailand; Prof Tomoya Kaji of Meiji Gakuin University, Japan; and Adrienne Picone, CEO, Volunteering, Australia.

Among the topics to be discussed are “Developing student volunteerism”, “The positive impact of senior volunteerism in helping seniors through para-counselling programmes”, “Employee volunteering increases professional development” and “Unearthing the true value of corporate volunteering for development impact”.