On Thursday, 30^th September 2021, a meeting of the National Steering Committe on: “Enhancing the capacities of the National Volunteer Committee of Guinea Bissau for inclusive citizenship, peace and sustainable development’’ was held.  The project, funded by UNDP, aims to create a conducive and enabling environment for volunteer engagement of young people in peacebuilding and the sustainable development goals in Guinea Bissau.

The purpose of the steering committee meeting was to analyze the activities carried out from January to September 2021, share best practices on volunteerism, and strengthen the Steering Committee’s capacity to promote volunteerism in the respective organizations.

The meeting brought together 17 members of the Steering Committee from public institutions, international institutions, and civil society organizations. The steering committee analyzed the main activities carried out from January to September 2021, notably: 

• Organization of the first meeting of the Steering Committee of the year 2021, which enabled the 2020 Annual report approval and the 2021 Annual Work Plan adoption;
• The advocacy workshop organization with the actors involved in the process of the adoption of the National Volunteerism law. To date, the draft law on volunteerism transmitted to the office of the Ministers Council is waiting for Government approval before its submission to the National Assembly;
• Training of the National Volunteer Committee on the values of volunteerism and the volunteer clubs management;  
• Co-organization of the International Youth Day celebration; 
• Auscultation of the actors involved in the development process of the national volunteering strategy;
• Support the organization of the 15^th edition of the National School of Volunteerism.  

As part of sharing best practices, the RENAJ representative shared the experience of three projects implemented by RENAJ namely, the National School of Volunteerism (NVS), the citizen journey project, and the project on training girls in general hygiene. 

The National  School of Volunteerism was created to promote, through non-formal education methodologies and by training and capacity building, to encourage youth associations’ greater participation in the challenges of the country’s socio-political and economic transformation, and global sustainability agendas. Since its inception, 4,876 young people have benefited from the training of the National School of Volunteerism. 

During the meeting, the steering committee members iterated their gratitude to UNDP for supporting the implementation of activities. They made two recommendations:

(1) Continue to advocate with the authorities for the adoption of the law on national volunteering;

(2) Engage with Government and other partners to mobilize resources for the effective implementation of the project. 

The promotion of volunteerism remains an important priority for UNDP to promote peace and sustainable development in Guinea Bissau.