Volunteers Day marked

LAHORE: An NGO commemorated the International Volunteer Day (IVD) in collaboration with E-library, Government of Punjab and Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) in E-library, Gaddafi Stadium.

It was part of a youths’ conference held here in which around 300 young volunteers from across districts of Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Islamabad participated. The IVD commemoration was dedicated to this year’s theme “Volunteers Build Resilient Communities” as recognition of volunteers.

Young social entrepreneur Noor Imran moderated the event while earlier an informal session with youths was conducted by Usama Nasir.

MPA Saadia Sohail said that while thinking about volunteerism, the first person who comes to mind is Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). He volunteered to show us the right path. Quaid-e-Azam volunteered to make this country. Life of a politician is a living example of volunteerism. MPA Haroon Imran Gill said that to lead community you have to focus on your objectives, not on money. While citing a report by United Nations Volunteers (UNV) Programme, the Executive Director of NGO Sabiha Shaheen informed that Pakistan ranks 10th in number of volunteers globally with 58 million volunteers. Mrs Shafqat Rafiq briefed about the work of Girls Guide Movement. She recommended that life skills should be part of curriculum and the educational institutions should run volunteering programmes that bring us closer to our community. Asif Bilal told that PITB and Sports Board Punjab have established e-libraries in around 20 districts of Punjab.