Taipei Times: To what extent do you think the establishment of IAVE-Taiwan on Friday can enhance the linkage between Taiwan's volunteer groups and their counterparts in the international community?
Liz Burns: I hope it will be very significant because it means that there is a definite identity now for IAVE in Japan, and the identity applies not only to IAVE there, but also to IAVE as a linking mechanism for organizations and groups here in Taiwan. They will then identify themselves more clearly with the international body.
It's also a very significant move because IAVE-Taiwan is launching itself with a four-point strategy in place. And that means that there are plans. Once they've identified their missions for themselves and they've identified some plans that they are going to take forward as IAVE-Taiwan, that (the four-point strategy) will enhance what organizations in Taiwan are doing. They will have inclusive connections with each other, as well as closer contacts with organizations and networks worldwide.
PHOTO: LU CHUNG-WEI, LIBERTY TIMES
TT: What have been the ties between the IAVE and the UN system, since the IAVE has been one of the groups that enjoys special status in the UN Economic and Social Development Committee (ECOSOC)?
Burns: The IAVE is one of a number of international volunteer organizations and NGOs that has been given consultative status to ECOSOC.
To maintain that status, the organization has to stay in regular contact with the UN. We do that in two ways. One is that we have in New York a volunteer who attends certain meetings of the UN, particularly those of its NGO committees.
The other way in which we are in contact with the UN is through the UN Volunteers (UNV), which is the UN's own program for recruiting volunteers worldwide. They recruit mainly younger people -- but in that context `young' has a fairly elastic definition -- to support the UN development agencies in developing countries where the UN has a presence.
The UNV is the department within the UN that was given
responsibility for taking the lead in the International Year of Volunteers, which was in 2001. ... The IAVE members around the world, including here in Taiwan, took the lead in promoting the year and organizing programs for the year.
TT: To what extent do you think that US President George W. Bush's state-of-the-union speech, during which he called on all Americans to give two years of their lives to voluntary national service, served as a response to the UN resolution on volunteering?
Burns: I am not sure if that was intended as a response. In many ways it's a very positive confirmation of the importance of volunteering. The American government has a long tradition of supporting volunteering ... and President Bush is following that long presidential tradition of supporting volunteering in America.
I think what's new in his state-of-the-union address was the link that he was making to the response to Sept. 11. It was an acknowl-edgement of the roles that volunteers have played in the immediate response to Sept. 11. But it's also linked to the whole question of national security.
TT: But Bush's address also triggered fear among critics who fear that his plan could harm civil society, the network of local institutions where most voluntary activity takes place, by making the government the main link between individuals and the society they offer to help. What's your view of the critics' fear?
Burns: I think in some respect it's a valid fear because the government has to play a careful role in supporting volunteering. But at the same time we have to recognize that America already has a large bureaucracy to support the kind of volunteer program that Bush was envisioning. ... As I understand it, the national service corps would be given the responsibility for helping people from a wider population band to do a particular kind of service for their country.
But I think it's very important that governments do support volunteering. One of the main reasons for that is that it is in the interest of the government that citizens should be active in helping to make their community a better place to live, and governments are going to benefit.
Particularly now when there are concerns in some democratic countries about the loss of interest in the politics of democracy, volunteering which makes citizens active and keeps them active is important in various ways.
I think also governments should be supporting volunteering because nothing affects the people that volunteers hope to benefit more than government policy. And the volunteering sector needs to have a relationship with the government that can enable a dialogue between the government and the sector about government policy.
The dialogue should be mainly about government policy about volunteering, because that's our primary interest, but there should also be a dialogue about policy and how government policy in particular is affecting those people, those courses and those interests that volunteers are working to help and to protect.
The third reason is that the governments have money. Though volunteers are not paid for their work, they still need money in order to be able to do their work. Volunteering needs resources. And it's in the government's interest and in the society's interest that the government contributes to those resources.
Governments should not be the only funder. But they should be prepared to invest resources, and in particular to invest resources in the infrastructure -- in the network of volunteer centers, which is already in reasonably good shape in Taiwan, the national coordinating body, and bodies which are going to make connections with the international networks.
TT: How would you advise the government, as well as the volunteering sector in Taiwan, to adopt concrete measures to entice individuals' participation in voluntary work?
Burns: I think the international year gave us some clues to that because they can help with the promotion of volunteering. My personal view is that it is best done if the government supports the sector to promote volunteering rather than government itself promoting volunteering. Citizens, certainly in my own country, are cautious when the government promotes volunteering, because they wonder why is the government wanting us to do this. But if the government supports the sector to promote volunteering, then I think that's a legitimate role.
The government can obviously help fund volunteering projects and volunteering organizations. I repeat, I don't think the government should be the sole funder, because those groups and organizations need to retain their independence.
Most importantly, government can work with the sector to create a policy framework for the development and support of volunteering in the medium term and the long term.
But volunteering is a political issue, not necessarily party political, and it needs to avoid becoming a political football. ... What we need is cross-party support. We need all parties to recognize that volunteering is a significant contributor to a good society.
Four factors led to the declaration of a typhoon day and the cancelation of classes yesterday, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. Work and classes were canceled across Taiwan yesterday as Typhoon Krathon was forecast to make landfall in the southern part of the country. However, northern Taiwan had only heavy winds during the day and rain in the evening, leading some to criticize the cancelation. Speaking at a Taipei City Council meeting yesterday, Chiang said the decision was made due to the possibility of landslides and other problems in mountainous areas, the need to avoid a potentially dangerous commute for those
Typhoon Krathon, a military airshow and rehearsals for Double Ten National Day celebrations might disrupt flights at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in the first 10 days of next month, the airport’s operator said yesterday. Taoyuan International Airport Corp said in a statement that it has established a response center after the Central Weather Administration issued a sea warning for Krathon, and urged passengers to remain alert to the possibility of disruptions caused by the storm in the coming days. Flight schedules might also change while the air force conducts rehearsals and holds a final airshow for Double Ten National Day, it added. Although
SEMICONDUCTORS: TSMC is able to produce 2-nanometer chips and mass production is expected to be launched by next year, the company said In leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing China is behind Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) by at least 10 years as the Taiwanese chipmaker’s manufacturing process has progressed to 2 nanometers, National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Minister Wu Cheng-wen (吳誠文) said yesterday. Wu made the remarks during a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee when asked by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) about a report published in August by the Chinese version of Nikkei Asia that said Taiwan’s lead over China in chip manufacturing was only three years. She asked Wu Cheng-wen if the report was an accurate
PRO-CHINA SLOGANS: Two DPP members criticized police officers’ lack of action at the scene, saying that law enforcement authorities should investigate the incident Chinese tourists allegedly interrupted a protest in Taipei on Tuesday held by Hong Kongers, knocked down several flags and shouted: “Taiwan and Hong Kong belong to China.” Hong Kong democracy activists were holding a demonstration as Tuesday was China’s National Day. A video posted online by civic group Hong Kong Outlanders shows a couple, who are allegedly Chinese, during the demonstration. “Today is China’s National Day, and I won’t allow the displaying of these flags,” the male yells in the video before pushing some demonstrators and knocking down a few flagpoles. Radio Free Asia reported that some of the demonstrators
RSS