Daily Times

There is an incredible value in being service for others. (Elizbeth Berg,Author)

While watching a You tube video of a middle aged Chef I was just thinking how fortunate we are as a nation as in the times of disasters and catastrophes every individual is willing to contribute .I personally define volunteerism as feeling an emotion which is beyond age limits .It is something from your heart and soul .As per proper definition ,Volunteerism is a form of prosocial behavior towards community when individuals or groups with their will decide to spend the available resources, time for the benefit of community and people around them. There are a range of types of volunteerism with five general categories.Firstly formal volunteerism where programs and mechanisms are accurately structured and supervised at state-level .We have many examples of such support program like Ihsas program, Benazir Income Support Programs, the initiatives of social welfare department and Zakat and Usher Department, Pakistan Baitul Maal etc both at federal and the provincial level. These departments are meant to access the underprivileged and disadvantaged with the support of a proper hierarchy and specific budget allocations.The second type of volunteerism is in Governance and by that we mean the incidence of intellectuals and experienced in the advisory bodies and policy-making like the Provincial Zakat Councils, , Institute management committees ,Board of Governors, which help in planning and decision making. The Nonformal volunteerism is meant for communities with self-reliance of the individuals or volunteer groups like the Edhi foundation Ansar Barni welfare trust etc .The Social action volunteerism is based on passion and motivation that can be result of many factors around and media is highlighting many such examples equally . The project-based volunteerism is mostly in the development sector and carried out by the specific teams hired to achieve the project goals .

It is time for synchronized efforts on part of state and civil society organizations and educational institutions to ensure that the deserving are accessed with all the precautionary measures and care

The lockdown amidst Corona is a kind of transformation for the whole world with redefining, reincarnating of many concepts and revival of lost values and traditions which seems a bit positive as the whole campaign is not only about taking care of yourself but the others and people around you .Human Rights seem to be redefined in all aspects ,the religious clergy is explaining it in the religious context ,the philanthropists with their approach and the Human Rights defenders have their view in the wake of current scenario. After the initial trauma and fear we are slowly and gradually getting used to it may be taking it as another normal in the words of Justin Trudo, the Canadian Prime Minister . Community involvement and community engagement is observable at different forums and in all forms of aforementioned volunteerism .Special help lines and ,and support mechanisms on part civil society organizations and state are being shared via electronic and social media to deal the physical and psychological issues as the lockdown is equally stressing irrespective of the age gender caste and creed. Among the various suffering communities, The worst affected are the daily wagers may be domestic workers ,may be the labours ,the waiters and staff working in restaurants .Our is society predominantly influenced by religion the social distancing and social isolation is the toughest task and the prevalent challenge as we can see segmentation even on this issues .Though the council of Islamic Ideology and religious scholars have been talking about the care of Human lives yet the second school of thought has its justifications and reasons to continue with the social interaction in the form of prayers and gatherings .Despite these debates ,and differences most of the times our lives are just meant for others looking at them. Along with formal , volunteerism non formal volunteerism and social actions can be witnessed in the country , where the daily wagers are being searched and ppl are trying to provide support in the form of food items ,money or whatever possible means they have . But apparently, things are quite confusing as to when you closely look at these people they seem to be the professional beggars secondly each one is already carrying one or two bags thirdly they way they rush and snatch is quite scary.In this situation, the real deserving case who needs some help and support are hardly visible. I went out multiple times to look for the real case. It is high time that the biggest chunk of population youth who are ready to be volunteer anytime, must be engaged for effective delivery of these packages and programs .Youth though is facing challenges as far as their academics are concerned however this is the right time to get them engaged in the volunteer efforts and that can be done by all the aforementioned categories. Additionally, colleges and universities have societies and clubs both formal and non formal, they can be encouraged and activated for collaborating in the ongoing efforts at this time by involving the university administration. Student unions have been having issues however the welfare societies and associations contributing on their own can be encouraged at this point. The civil society organizations can also .The revival of girl guides and boy scouts can be looked into and the distant learning initiatives can be launched. A very recent example is the Teleschool by state TV with the name of Teleschool, catering for the education of students at home from grade one to twelve. Similar programs can be initiated for volunteer youth to be girl guides and boy scouts The Corona Tiger force is also announced for outreach activities though, yet it will take some time to properly get functional so why not start off with the young human resource already voluntarily there? Youth needs to be engaged as this is the right time to involve them in planning decision making and implementation. The young representatives at local bodies who have been serving community can be re-engaged as well Although we know that at times political affiliations matter but still being from within the community at least they will have the ownership It is time for synchronized efforts on part of state and civil society organizations and educational institutions to ensure that the deserving are accessed with all the precautionary measures and care The mechanisms are there to identify the needy only unified centralized data collection and combining it will further guarantee access to the deserving ones.

The writer has experience in the field of education and is currently working as a resource person in the development sector