Last Thursday, President General Pervez Musharraf launched the National Volunteers Movement (NVM) amid great joy and expectations of the enlisted volunteers and top government political luminaries who were invited to attend the ceremony.
Volunteerism has become a worldwide phenomenon. It is mostly promoted and sustained by non-government organisations (NGOs) which meet their financial requirements largely from private donations. A government sometimes also seeks volunteers and organises them to help people who have been struck by some natural calamity like a flood, hurricane or earthquake. But hardly any government runs a volunteer organisation on a permanent basis. The government by its nature functions in a leisurely manner and its activities are tightly compartmentalised. Its response to emergencies will therefore always be slow, especially in an emergency like an earthquake which unlike a hurricane or flood is unpredictable and comes without warning.
A voluntary organisation established and controlled by the government can never match the speed of an NGO in responding to a disaster. The search and rescue team of RAPID UK was in Islamabad within 24 hours of the quake. RAPID learned of the earthquake at 7 a.m. British time and its team was airborne for Islamabad at lunchtime. In a few hours it had selected volunteers from its ranks, retrieved search dogs from its kennel, collected highly technical equipment and finalised travel arrangements. RAPID is entirely funded by private donations; it does not have a single salaried employee and the volunteers own the equipment they use for search operations. The only sponsorship it receives is free passage from British Airways to the scene of disaster.
Despite being the most resourceful entity in the country, the government just cannot sustain a voluntary organisation. It cannot match the efficiency and rapidity of a charitable organisation like the Edhi Trust, whose volunteers are the first to reach the scene of disaster. Edhi provides a nationwide ambulance service including helicopter ambulances. He provides burial services at nominal charges. The police hands over bodies of unidentified accident or crime victims to Edhi for burial, which he does without charge. The Edhi Trust looks after destitute persons and those who cannot find their way back home because of memory loss. Edhi's is the only Pakistani NGO that sends volunteers to other calamity-hit countries. Its operational costs are met entirely through voluntary donations from private individuals or non-official entities. People place more confidence in Edhi than in the government. Women donate their gold ornaments without bothering about a receipt. The donors feel sure that their donations will be spent honestly and for a good cause. They do not expect the government to fit this standard. Edhi has never sought or received monetary help from the government.
Volunteerism has become so important that even the United Nations has an organisation called UN Volunteers (UNV). It supports sustainable human development globally through the promotion of volunteerism, including the mobilisation of volunteers. It serves the causes of peace and development through enhancing opportunities for participation. It is universal, inclusive and embraces volunteer action in all its diversity. It values free will, commitment, engagement and solidarity, which are the foundations of volunteerism.
According to the United Nations, volunteering brings benefits to both society at large and the individual volunteer. It makes important contributions, economically as well as socially. It contributes to a more cohesive society by building trust and reciprocity among citizens.
Now that the government has launched the National Volunteers Movement, it should try to make it a success. So far very sketchy information is available about its structure and fields of operation. The only definite information people have come across so far concerns the high-level appointments of its functionaries: Mr Mohammad Ali Durrani, recently elevated to the post of special assistant to the prime minister, has been named NVM chairman; a retired brigadier is its chief coordinator and a retired colonel the director of operations. The NVM will probably be tempted to establish its regional and operational offices in provincial capitals or even at district levels. This trend is not uncommon. Government departments all over the world expand and flourish infinitely.
The government would do well to make the operations of NVM transparent. The NVM is obviously going to come with an elaborate secretariat. The people would like to know how its monetary requirements will be met, from the national budget or from donor money.
So far there has only been loud thinking about the tasks that could be entrusted to the volunteers registered with the NVM. President Musharraf has mentioned the following tasks: (i) male volunteers could be entrusted with building houses and organising tent villages; (ii) female volunteers could be assigned to schools, hospitals and camps; (iii) volunteers could play a productive role in tree plantation drives; (iv) they could bring traffic discipline in the country; (v) they could also strive to discipline this nation; and (vi) persuade the highlanders to come down to a relief camp.
The volunteers could perform tasks one, two and three without any problem. However, to expect them to discipline traffic and the people at large is asking too much. How could they be successful where the police with unlimited powers has failed? The solution lies in enforcing traffic rules. Enforce the rules and discipline will ensue. Task four is doable; the volunteers could initiate this task by persuading people to adopt the habit of forming queues.
Volunteering has a meaningful, positive impact on the community. It is two-way traffic with many benefits for the volunteer as well. When volunteers help a cause or a person or a political campaign or build house for the homeless, they experience the real world. They can use this experience to explore career interests. Volunteering brings together a variety of people.
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