Volunteerism to be discussed at Azam seminar on Sept 7

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KUCHING:  Angkatan Zaman Mansang Sarawak (Azam Sarawak) will be holding a seminar on volunteerism in conjunction with its 32nd anniversary celebration this year.

Some 150 participants are expected to attend a seminar on ‘Volunteers as Social Change Agents’ to be held on Sept 7 here.

Dr Peter Devereux, a Research Fellow with Curtin University Australia’s Faculty of Humanities will present the keynote paper on ‘Volunteers as Modern Change Agents’.

Dr Devereux is a part time Research Fellow at Curtin University’s Sustainability Policy Institute, advancing the Doctorate of Sustainable Development focused on the United Nations’ (UN) Sustainable Development Goals.

He has focused on volunteering for development policy, research and practice for the last twenty five years.

His credentials include Policy Specialist, Volunteerism and Civil Society in United Nations Volunteers headquarters in their Volunteer Knowledge and Innovation Section, volunteer university lecturer and NGO environmental adviser in Nicaragua, UN Volunteers Programme Officer in the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) multi-country office in Fiji and state manager for the Australian Volunteer International’s Perth office.

He completed his PhD in 2010 on long-term international volunteers in development and sustainability.

Other speakers include Yayasan Salam Malaysia chairman Datuk Ahmad Bin Abd Talib who will deliver a talk titled ‘An Overview of Volunteerism in Malaysia Today’, Azam Sarawak honorary secretary Mohamad Ariff Irwani Azahari who will share on Azam Sarawak’s ‘Experience On Volunteering For Development’ and Toastmasters International public speaking champion Stephen Fernando who will motivate participants with a session titled ‘Make a Difference by Being Different!’.

A session titled ‘Taking Volunteerism in Sarawak to the Next Level’ will also be held at the seminar featuring panellists such as Social Welfare Department of Sarawak’s head of Community Development Division Dr Rusmailani Abdul Aziz, Ministry of Tourism and Culture Malaysia Sarawak Office assistant director Marahaini Marikan who will present a talk titled ‘Voluntourism’, Sarawak Women for Women Society president Margaret Bedus as well as Friends of Sarawak Museum president Rebecca D’Cruz.

The one day seminar aims to generate discussions on the future direction of volunteerism in Sarawak particularly on how volunteers could be effective social change agents.

Additionally, it hopes to generate seed ideas on how the various voluntary organisations, individual volunteers and other relevant stakeholders in Sarawak could work collaboratively to bring volunteerism to the next level.

Those invited to attend include representatives of relevant government agencies, the private sector and corporate sectors and members of the media.

Azam will also hold its 32nd Anniversary Dinner on the same day, with Yang di-Pertua Negeri Sarawak Tun Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud who is also Azam’s patron scheduled to attend.

For more information, call Edward or Yaana of Azam Sarawak at 082-411799.