What did the day have in store for us - some sun and more?
Well even those who had danced into the wee hours of the morning were attentive and alert, listening to another of our distinguished visitors. This time Bruce Jenks from our very own UNDP, as he gave pointers on Partnerships. I'll give you a tiny 'slice' of the whole!
I bet you never thought about the differences between volunteer, voluntary and volunteerism or even the relationship between them. Well he has and so told us about them. Free will seems to be at the core of volunteerism (the largest of the three). But there's more: exercising free will - a concept we know and associate with volunteerism - he seems to take further, citing 'the power that can be unleashed' and 'a force to be reckoned with.' Also, the potential historical difference UNV could make towards reaching MDGs. Think of this phrase from the Secretary-General's Report on the MDGs, which Bruce Jenks used, it pulls together the challenges he gave '...platform for coalition for change.' That's what is at UNV's disposal. He now wanted UNV to be ambitious and use this platform. No wonder he considers that the MDGs are a breakthrough opportunity, in other words a once in a lifetime opportunity and a historical moment for UNV to make a difference and not miss this one. Perhaps because he is looking in from the outside, he seems to be really flagging the notion of ambition and UNV going for scale - that is, scaling up.
Glowing from such a 'pep' talk on our 'pet' subject was a setting for continued group discussions on partnerships, continuing into the day; looking at potential relationship with partners such as, Government, Civil Society, Private Sector, Media and so on. The emerging themes recurred around capacity, strategy, clarity of relationships within the various groups and so we had some recommendations including : relationships with UNDP, CO team, strategy. These could be linked to follow-on discussions on partnerships vis-à-vis the UNDAF and National Human Development Report .
By now we have gotten accustomed to high expectations for the day - this is all part of our glowing and once more they were met to a very large extent, if one goes by the Digivoting, which incidentally has not lost it popularity and the popularity may even have mounted! Take away Digivote and there would probably be a mini-protest. It's currently our favourite 'toy'!
Another glowing day...
By Jean Anglin
Programme Specialist
Africa Section
