My Encounters, My Life: 21st IAVE World Volunteer Conference

Day 1 - 24 January 2011 - Opening Ceremony

The Opening Ceremony of the 21st International Association for Volunteer Effort (IAVE) World Volunteer Conference was held at the Resorts World Sentosa.

Opening Address by Mrs Tan Chee Koon, Organising Chairman for the 21st IAVE World Volunteer Conference; Board Member for National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre (NVPC) Singapore

Speech by Ms Flavia Pansieri, Executive Coordinator for United Nations Volunteers (UNV)

Speech by Dr Kang-Hyun Lee, IAVE World President

The Guest-of-Honour was Mr S R Nathan, President of the Republic of Singapore.

Performer waving the IAVE Flag

Girl Guides bearing flags of various countries participating in the conference

Unveiling of the Epidendrum Orchid, signifying the Spirit of Volunteerism

Epidendrum Orchid

Presentation of Spirit of Volunteerism stamps as token of appreciations from SingPost

Erick Guansing singing some songs for the participants. He also sang for the Journey of the Youth Olympics Flame City Celebrations

Lion Dance Performance by one of the best troupes in Singapore

Day 2 - 25 January 2011 - A Date with Jet Li & Michelle Yeoh

A Fusion Dance Performance showcasing the diverse culture of Singapore was presented to the participants who came from all over the World for the IAVE World Volunteer Conference.

The Dikir Barat had a fusion twist to it, with dance moves and songs from different ethnic groups entwined into one performance.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for governments to strengthen the framework for volunteers and highlighted that 2011 is the 10th Anniversary of International Year of Volunteering.

Speech by Mr Stanley Tan, Chairman of National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre (NVPC), Singapore.

Keynote Address by Mr Goh Chok Tong, Senior Minister of the Republic of Singapore

SM Goh Chok Tong talked about 3 strategies in increasing volunteerism rate:

Flexible Volunteering - giving people "bite-size" tasks, adhoc basis. Case study: the success of New York Cares, UN Online Volunteers.
Satisfying Volunteering - 17% of Singaporean volunteers don't return the following year
Informal Volunteering - 33% of Singaporeans contributed more than 48 hours each on helping people. There is a need to recognise the efforts of informal volunteers.SM Goh also shared about the NVPC's "Vertical Kampung" initiative

Keynote Address by Mr Tadateru Konoe, President of International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

With Liling, who's representing the Ministry of Community Development, Youth & Sports (MCYS)

After the Opening Plenary, participants headed for the respective forums that they signed up for. There were 5 tracks of forums and each track had about 3-5 different forums. Participants were definitely spoilt for choices.

Attended a forum of the Track 5: Strategic Issues in Volunteer Management

Ms Flora Chung, CEO of Agency for Volunteer Service (Hong Kong), shares the experience on Hong Kong 2009 East Asian Games Volunteer Programme

Sharing by Ms Ruth Mackenzie, President & CEO of Volunteer Canada

Sharing by Ms Wendy Osborne, CEO of Volunteer NOW (United Kingdom)

One of the key highlights of the 4-day conference was the Luncheon Plenary with two superstars - Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh.

Li founded the One Foundation charity while Yeoh is the global ambassador for the Make Roads Safe campaign which aims to raise awareness of the problem of road traffic injury.

Jet Li says his One Foundation makes it simple for people to contribute. 1 Yuan a day and volunteering 1 hour a day in China makes it easy to digest.

He believes that everyone is part of a big family and everyone just needs to contribute a little and that would amount to a lot.

"Time is you control, don't tell me no time" - He illustrates the point by saying that when a boy chases a girl, even if he is busy, he still will be able to find time to do so.

Workshop Session 411: Changing the World Online - Moderator Elise Bouvet, Programme Specialist of Online Volunteering, United Nations Volunteers

Introducing the concept on Online Volunteering

Sharing of an online initiative that promoted interaction between Han students and tribal students by Ms Wan-Jiunn Lu, Youth Volunteer Representative, Digital and Humanity Concern Association. Ms Wan-Jiunn Lu and her sister Ms Wan-Zi Lu developed this idea 7 years ago when they were still in High School. Now they are in college.

Sharing by Mr Randy Punley, Director of Corporate Sponorship, United Way Worldwide

Workshop Session 114: Maximising the Power of One: The Aggregate Strategy, moderated by Ms Amy Tan, CEO, Women's Initiative for Ageing Successfully (WINGS).

Sharing by Ms Isabel Kelly, International Director, Salesforce Foundation

Sharing by Ms Cecilia Tan, Director of Blood Donor Recruitment Programme, Singapore Red Cross

Day 3: 26 January 2011 - Plenary Session on the IAVE Global Corporate Volunteering Research Project

Speech by IAVE World President, Dr Kang-Hyun Lee

Sharing by Steve Bertamini, Group Executive Director & CEO Global Consumer Banking, Standard Chartered Bank

Kenn Allen, Founder & President, Civil Society Consulting Group LLC & Project Director, Global Corporate Volunteering Research Project, presents the State of Health Study report

Sharing by Senior Reacher Monica Beatriz Galiano, who's also President, Iniciativa Brasil

Sharing by Senior Researcher Sarah Hayes, Consultant Director, Global Corporate Volunteer Council.
Sarah Hayes: "Nothing is more humane than people helping people."

Sharing by Regina McNally, Global Volunteer Programme Manager, State Street Corporation

Sharing by Telefonia

Inspiring speech by Ed Martinez, Director of Philanthropy and Corporate Relations, United Postal Services (UPS) Foundation

In his sharing, Ed Martinez said UPS staff teach their trade. For instance, safety officers teach UK drivers on safety driving. UPS is a logistics company, so they also provide logistics training to NGOs involved in disaster-relief work. Ed Martinez thanks volunteers by saying, "Without you leading the charge, we'll be in a more desperate place."

Sharing by Carla Sattler, Manager, Social Mobilization Area, C&A Institute

Sharing by Kraft Foods

Sharing by Sarah Hayes, Consultant Director, Global Corporate Volunteer Council

Sharing by Sherrie Bossung, Director, Community Outreach and Employee Engagement & Vice President, Eli Lilly and Company

Master of Ceremony, Sam Santiago, Director, Workforce Giving and Volunteerism, American Airlines

Forum Session 420: Volunteering Mega Trends: International Volunteering

Moderated by Mr Zulkifli Baharudin, Managing Director, Global Business Integrators Pte Ltd

Sharing by Dr Caroline Brassard, Assistant Professor, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore

Sharing by Mr Joselito C. De Vera, Executive Director, Philippine National Volunteer Service Coordinating Agency (PNVSCA)

Photo with Desmond who's representing NACLI

Interesting sighting of Tibetan monks carrying NUS bag

Workshop Session 522: Volunteer Performance and Measuring Performance to Meet Expectations

Moderated by Sue Kobar, Manager of Volunteer Services, Nurse Maude

Sharing by Ms Alison Duff, Training and Development Manager, Volunteering Geelong

Sharing by Ms Yael Caplin, Resource Development Manager, Leir Institute for Volunteer Management, Yad Sarah

Moderator Sue Kobar

Sharing by Ms Yael Caplin, Resource Development Manager, Leir Institute for Volunteer Management, Yad Sarah

Sharing by Sue Kobar, Manager of Volunteer Services, Nurse Maude

With Rizal who's representing National Youth Council, Singapore

Workshop Session 424: Get "Hands On" with Volunteering: Episodic Volunteering through the Hands-On Network.

Moderated by Mr David Fong, Director of SG Cares and Marketing Communications, National Volunteering & Philanthropy Centre.

Sharing by Mr Richard Brubaker, Founder and Executive Director, HandsOn China

Sharing by Ms HyeJin Hong, Manager, VOLUNTEER21, Korea

Sharing by Ms Carmela David, Project Officer, HandsOn Manila Foundation, Inc

Day 4 - 27 January 2011 - "The Pitch" presented by UBS

The Pitch is a "Singapore Idol" platform for NGOs to pitch their ideas. UBS sponsors US$60,000 for for the winner, and another US$15,000 for the finalist that wins the popular audience vote.

Pitching by HandsOn Manila - Comments from Judges: "Most Engaging"

Pitching by National Volunteer Network Trust (NavNet) - Comments from Judges: "Most Thought Provoking"

KenyaDr Abdulmalik and Ms Agnetta M. Nyalita (Programme Coordinator) talk about their programme to empower youths via entrepreneurship

Project Osmijeh (Smile), Pitch by Bosnia and Herzegovina - Comments from Judges: "Most Touching"

Project Asia Volunteer Network, Pitch by VOLUNTEER21, Korea - Comments from Judges: "Most Ambitious"

Pitch by Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) Rwanda - Presenters: Mr Sekamana Archimede (Programme Officer) & Ms Uzamukunda Pudentienne (General Secretary) - Comments from Judges: "Most Needy"

The Pitch Finalists

With Mr Sekamana Archimede (Programme Officer, YWCA Rwanda) & Ms Uzamukunda Pudentienne (General Secretary, YWCA Rwanda)

Sharing of the IAVE Youth Conference by Mark Molloy

This year's youth conference is the largest of its kind.

Sharing of the IAVE Youth Conference by Daniel Buritica

Youth Declaration

Sharing of the Youth Conference by Oliver Loke

Publicity on 2nd World Summit for Youth Volunteering to be held in Colombia this November.The 1st World Summit for Youth Volunteering was held in 2001 in conjunction with the 1st UN International Year of Volunteers

Stripping to show the "You Make It Happen!" T-shirt

Partners of the Americas would be leading the World Summit

Results for "The Pitch": YWCA Rwanda wins Audience's Choice (Cash Prize of US$15,000 from UBS)

Mr Willie Cheng, Director, Lien Centre for Social Innovation, representing the judges in explaining decision

Results for "The Pitch": YWCA Rwanda wins Judge's Choice (Cash Prize of US$30,000 from UBS)

Results for "The Pitch": Osmijeh (Smile) wins Judge's Choice (Cash Prize of US$30,000 from UBS)

Mrs Christine Ong, CEO of Wealth Management Singapore, UBS said that besides having their staff volunteering for the Conference, the family members of the staff also joined in

Mr Laurence Lien, CEO of NVPC

Mr Laurence Lien shared that there were 185 speakers and moderators for the conference and they all volunteered their time to share their knowledge. There were also a total of 400 volunteers (excluding speakers and moderators) involved in the conference. He said that some ideas shared were forming communities of interest, and the need to give volunteers opportunity to be entrepreneurial. Beneficiaries might not just be solution-receiving, they could be solution-giving too.

"Youths are changing the face of volunteerism." Biggest contribution from volunteering is the returning of the soul to the person, making people think of one another as friends.

IAVE World President Dr Kang-Hyun Lee said he was previously a Scientist, developing drugs for patients. Now he develops "drugs" for society - Volunteerism. Ending his speech, he asked everyone to observe 10 seconds of silence to respect the volunteers who have fallen in their service.

Presentation of Tokens of Appreciation to first IAVE World President Ms Margaret Bell

Presentation of Tokens of Appreciation to 2nd IAVE World President Dr Kenn Allen

Presentation of Tokens of Appreciation to 3rd IAVE World President Ms Elizabeth Burns

Presentation of Tokens of Appreciation to Sponsor, UBS. Mr David Boyd-Thomas, Head of Community Affairs, Asia Pacific, UBS, points to the UBS staff who volunteered their time and service at this conference

Presentation of Tokens of Appreciation to the UPS Foundation

Presentation of Tokens of Appreciation to Standard Chartered Bank

Presentation of Tokens of Appreciation to State Street Corporation

Presentation of Tokens of Appreciation to National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre Singapore

The 22nd IAVE World Volunteer Conference would be held in Dublin, Ireland in 2012.
Presented by CEO, Volunteer Ireland. Theme: Volunteering. Human Rights. Human Dignity