Volunteering Scheme
In Uganda, volunteerism has emerged to be an essential tool to the attainment of major national development goals and targets. ALFORD Volunteering schemes aims to contribute to the millennium development goals (MDGs).by bringing on board the youth and willing productive citizens to contribute to national development programs.
Our Aims with Volunteering Scheme:
- To provide personal and professional support and guidance to all volunteers especially when preparing to take up volunteering services, during volunteering and after volunteering;
- To promote the spirit of volunteerism among the youth and productive citizens who are out of job markets.
- Valuing and promoting voluntary actions in communities by advocating and promoting national volunteering among Ugandans.
- To harness and harmonize the broad and diverse efforts and resources of the voluntary involving organizations into an integrated and effective partnership for local and national;
- To organize or participate in any voluntary development programmers including seminars, workshops that are geared towards development;
- Promote understanding, co-operation and sharing of information among voluntary organizations in Uganda.
What is volunteering?
Volunteerism is about people helping, learning and actively participating in communities. Volunteerism has no borders. It is a cross-cutting social phenomenon that involves all groups in society and all aspects of human activity. At the core of ALFORD volunteering programs there are issues concerning the contribution of citizens to development, safety and social growth, and the desirability of recognizing, valuing and promoting voluntary action by citizens in every country. Volunteering is a nursery for good citizenship. It helps build strong and cohesive communities. It teaches people to be responsible citizens and schools them in the process of democratic involvement. It promotes trust and reciprocity, which are essential to stable societies.
Giving services to the communities:
Service to others is distinguished from mutual aid in that the primary recipient of the volunteering is not the member of the group him or herself, but an external third party, although most people would acknowledge that services includes an element of self-interest. This type of volunteering takes place typically within voluntary or community organizations, although in certain countries there is a strong tradition of volunteering within the public sector and a growing interest in volunteering in the corporate sector. There is also a long-standing tradition of volunteers being sent from one country to another to offer development and humanitarian assistance, both North to South and South to South.
A third expression of volunteerism is participation or civic engagement. This refers to the role played by individuals in the governance process, from representation on government consultation bodies to user involvement in local development projects. As a form of volunteering, it is found in all countries, although it is most developed in countries with a strong tradition of civic engagement.
Advocacy is a form of volunteerism which ALFORD instigated and maintained through national volunteers scheme. It's aimed to include working towards a change in legislation affecting the disadvantaged groups and the introduction of anti-discrimination measures. Through advocacy, ALFORD volunteers have paved the way for the introduction of new welfare services in the field of HIV/AIDS in the areas we operate in, we have raised public consciousness about human rights and the environment, and have been active in community health campaigns.
The concepts of employment and volunteerism, it may be necessary for some labour law provisions expressly to exclude volunteers from the scope of their application. For example, the general presumption that "work" is "paid work" should not apply to voluntary workers serving non-profit purposes. Volunteerism is non-paid, but it is not always cost-free. The legal concept of "consideration for work" should not apply to any reasonable amounts volunteers may receive, such as reimbursements of out-of-pocket expenses related to their voluntary activities or the board or lodging they may be provided in the course of their work.
Beneficiaries of our volunteering scheme.
Various beneficiaries are targeted by the scheme mainly individual volunteers, and the communities they serve.
The direct beneficiaries:
- The first beneficiary is the State, which will have a legal framework, a national structure of volunteerism to take up the challenge of the fight against poverty through the realization of the poverty reduction strategies and MDGs;
- The unemployed qualified men and women, more particularly the youth, who will be recruited as volunteers;
- University students / graduates requiring field experiences.
- The national and international volunteers who can benefit for better networking and exposure
The indirect beneficiaries:
The target communities of the micro projects.Non-profit or charitable organizations, including religious associations and colleges, trade unions, who request volunteers to work with them in different field. Our volunteering scheme involves citizens as volunteers-participants in their activities. Some are engaged in promoting volunteerism directly, managing volunteer efforts, building up worldwide networks of volunteers, raising awareness and lobbying for further recognition and support for voluntary action. Creating an enabling environment for a national volunteering scheme in Uganda.
ALFORD General Principals of Volunteerism.
ALFORD basic standards of Volunteerism include the following.
- volunteers participate on the basis of freely-expressed consent;
- volunteering is not compulsorily undertaken in order to receive pensions or government allowances; • volunteering is not carried out in expectation of any financial gain;
- volunteering complements, but must not result in, the downsizing or replacement of paid employment;
- volunteerism should be encouraged with a certain degree of autonomy from the public authorities, to safeguard its independence;
- volunteering is a legitimate way in which citizens can participate actively in the development of community and social life and address human needs;
- volunteers act for the common good and on the basis of a social commitment;
- volunteering promotes human rights and equality;
- volunteer recruitment is based on equal opportunity and nondiscrimination;
ALFORD Code of Conduct for volunteers;
Protection of National volunteers:
- The right to receive the necessary information, training, supervision, personal and technical support for the discharge of their duties.
- Appropriate accreditation, describing the nature and length of time of the Volunteer activity, as well as certification acknowledging the volunteer's contribution at the end of the service;
Duties of volunteers:
- To respect the objectives and observe the regulations of the ALFORD
- To respect the rights, beliefs and opinions of beneficiaries; and to participate in any necessary training courses provided by ALFORD.
The skills we are currently looking for are:
- Community development workers
- Agriculture specialist
- Gender and youth specialist
- Primary health care specialist
Apply to volunteer