You can watch the complete webinar here.
On July 14th, the second webinar of the VIVID-T Project was held. The main objectives of the webinar were to explore the topic of disability and inclusive volunteering, to provide recommendations based on the participants’ research and experiences, to know more about the challenges volunteering implies under the COVID-19 pandemic.
This time, the webinar focused on inclusive volunteering in humanitarian action and presented the challenges this experience may involve under the current context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Charlotte Thumser is Volunteering Programme and Advocacy Advisor in CBM Ireland. CBM is a Christian international development organisation dedicated to improving the life of persons with disabilities in developing countries. She explained one of her assignments as volunteer, which was to support the VIVID-T programme, and highlighted the importance of volunteerism. “A volunteer with a disability can help disappear barriers and support local organisations to promote their own way”, she said.
Regina Fuchs is Project Management for Inclusive Volunteering in Bezev, which is a German NGO committed to make development cooperation inclusive. She spoke about COVID-19 challenges in inclusive volunteering. “Up to now, Bezev has sent around 65 volunteers with a disability and abroad”, she told.
Shane Halpin is Viatores Christi CEO. It is an Irish non-profit organisation specialised in recruiting and training volunteers in the international development sector. In this regard, he talked about inclusiveness in relation with being a volunteer sending organisation. “We’re actively using DID, Disability Inclusive Development, in our project design and requirements from a field perspective”.
Vibhu Sharma is a volunteer of the United Nations (UNV). She is part of the UNV talent programme working in the policy section of the office of Human Resources. She described the UN volunteering programme and the benefits of it and the experience of volunteering during the COVID-19 pandemic. “Persons with disabilities, like everybody else, face the challenge that employers only want to hire people with experience. How would you get that experience unless you are hired?”, he argued.