A collaborative project of the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme and the Beijing Volunteer service Federation (BVF) has been awarded a gold medal of the Chinese Youth Volunteer Service Project Competition. The competition marked the first joint event after the Memorandum of Understanding signed between UNV and the China Youth Volunteers Association (CYVA) in October 2018.
The 4th Chinese Youth Volunteer Service Project Competition and Volunteer Service Exchange Expo in 2018 was successfully held during 1-2 December in Sichuan province of China, marking International Volunteer Day under the theme 'Youth Volunteerism for the New Era'.
The hosting organizations of this volunteer event included the China Central Youth League (CYL), Central Civilization Office, and Ministry of Civil Affairs, the People’s Government of Sichuan Province and a total of 11 ministerial and provincial governmental entities.
Mr Qi Batu, Secretary of the Secretariat, Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China, and Mr Yang Xingping, Vice Governor of Sichuan Province made opening remarks respectively.
Ms Manon Bernier, UNV Regional Portfolio Manager for Asia and the Pacific was invited as a key partner of China Youth Volunteers Association (CYVA) to deliver a keynote speech at the opening ceremony on development and opportunities for international volunteer service.
Manon Bernier delivered a keynote speech during the opening ceremony, Towards a multi-polar volunteering world: Development and opportunities for International Volunteer Service. (UNV, 2018)
The 4th Chinese Youth Volunteer Service Project Competition and Volunteer Service Exchange Expo plays a critical role in promoting Chinese volunteerism through engaging thousands of millions of Chinese youth in voluntary service.
As a national event, it is committed to provide a platform to share best practices on volunteer projects and facilitate communication among volunteer-involving organizations across China. Over 1,000 volunteer-involving projects were submitted from 37 provinces of China in the past 3 months.
The collaborative project between UNV and Beijing Volunteer Service Federation (BVF) – Strengthening China’s Involvement in the Development of International Volunteer Service through South-South Cooperation and the Belt and Road Initiative – gained recognition from the competition’s panel of experts and was awarded a Gold Medal after intense competition. Award-winning projects will be featured among the 'Best Practices of the Chinese Volunteer Service', and attract further technical resources and policy guidance from the event hosting organizations.
A variety of volunteer-involving activities were also conducted simultaneously, including a volunteer project exhibition, professional forum and workshop, and project launch ceremony. A total number of 6,000 participants attended these activities.