What is Volunteering?

Volunteer [välənˈtir]

A volunteer is an individual or group provides services for no financial or social gain.They bring a unique contribution to help others. Volunteer have positive benefits for the volunteer as well as for the person or community served.They accompany others towards a common goal. 

Volunteering covers many varied and different activities,from visiting an elderly or sick neighbour;getting involved in a youth club,scouting or guiding club;assisting a charity with its finances or administration'helping someone to read and write;the list is endless.

And anyone can volunteer. It doesn't matter whether they are young or old, male or female, able bodied or disabled, in paid work or not, there is something they can do. Some people volunteer a few times a year when they have spare time, others give a regular commitment of several hours per week and some even volunteer on a full time basis.

As a colleger(not only as a colleger but also as a human being). I think to form a good nation we must start from ourselves. Have the intentionn to make changes,and can contribute fully to the success of a goal. For the success of the SDGs, Young Generation has a big and impactful role.  

What is SDGs?

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), otherwise known as the Global Goals, are a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity. There are 17 global goals set by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015. 

What are the proposed 17 goals?

1) End poverty in all its forms everywhere

2) End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture

3) Ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages

4) Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

5) Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

6) Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all

7) Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all

8) Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all

9) Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation, and foster innovation

10) Reduce inequality within and among countries

11) Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

12) Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

13) Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts (taking note of agreements made by the UNFCCC forum)

14) Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development

15) Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification and halt and reverse land degradation, and halt biodiversity loss

16) Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels

17) Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development

"Children,Young Woman and Men are critical agents of changes"

The reasons why the success of the SDGs depends on Youth Engagement

1. Agents of Change 

the SDGs are not legally binding.  Each government will decide how to implement the ambitious goals based on their own national contexts.

Furthermore, review of a country’s progress toward the Goals will be strictly voluntary. This means the implementation of the SDGs will to a great degree rely on citizens who will have to hold their leaders and governments to account and remind them of their commitments.

2. Critical Role

This is where young people have a critical role to play.The overall success of the SDGs depends on youth engagement because young people are:

Critical thinkers: Young people have an ability to analyze and present evidence for their ideas, rather than simply accepting their personal reasoning as sufficient proof. this skills can be applied to any situation in life that calls for reflection, analysis and planning.

Change-makers: Young people also have the power to act and mobilise others. Youth activism is on the rise the world over, bolstered by broader connectivity and access to social media. Young people are currently living in a world of infinite wonder. With the rapid advancement and proliferation of technology across all sectors of life, from health to productivity, there seems to be no limit to this endless evolution. Rapid technological advances facilitate life, but must be accompanied by social care, where with all that progress, there are still many things we need to care about.

Are all human beings sufficient to fulfill their daily needs? what do they eat? how are the nutrients?

can education be felt by all humans on this earth?

how is the condition of our earth? a lot of factory production has a large impact on natural damage. How do we keep our earth?

(and many more questions that we must ask ourselves to initiate an action) 

Innovators: 

In addition to bringing fresh perspectives, young people often have direct knowledge of and insights into issues that are not accessible to adults. Youth best understand the problems they face and can offer new ideas and alternative solutions.

Communicators:

Youth have the ability to be good communicators. we need to get across our ideas and opinions well, but also listen to others and take their ideas into consideration. Effective communication means that everyone is on the same page.for some people who still lack communication skills, they can practice it by doing a number of ways:

Volunteer to give a presentation, 
Write a Blog,

Watch and learn from the body language of others,

Contribute ideas to a team project,

Do practice job interviews at home.

Leaders: When young people are empowered with the knowledge of their rights and supported to develop leadership skills, they can drive change in their communities and countries. Youth-led organisations and networks in particular should be supported and strengthened, because they contribute to the development of civic and leadership skills among young people, especially marginalised youth.​

Sources:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-importance-benefits-critical-thinking-skills-islam

http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/sustainable-development-goals.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volunteering

https://plan-international.org/blog/2015/08/five-reasons-success-sdgs-depends-youth-engagement

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/hung-vo/a-new-generation-of-chang_b_7140720.html

https://www.youthemployment.org.uk/young-professional-training/communication-skills-young-professional/

http://www.volunteersligo.ie/volunteers/volunteer-articles/15-what-is-volunteering