‘Use volunteerism, philanthropy to propel national development’
The Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana (UG), Prof. Ernest Aryeetey, has called for research into the impact of volunteerism and philanthropy on national development.
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He said in many countries, researchers had identified volunteerism and philanthropy as a major tool for national development, and as such Ghana must follow suit.
Prof. Aryeetey made the call at a conference to open the 20th anniversary celebration of the Centre for Social Policy Studies (CPSP) in Accra last Thursday.
The two-day conference had a focus on volunteerism and philanthropy.
The conference brought together professors researching on volunteerism and philanthropy and organisations that actively involve volunteers in their work.
Prof. Aryeetey, who delivered the keynote address, said: “National development, particularly in the area of tertiary education, is not the business of the government alone, but as it is done in other countries, managing volunteerism and philanthropy well could accelerate and make better national development.”
Focus
In her remarks, the Director of the centre, Professor Abena Oduro, said the centre was focusing on volunteerism and philanthropy to leverage social mobilisation for development.
She said people volunteered for several reasons, including for altruistic reasons, to occupy their leisure time, socialise and develop social networks, while others did it to gain relevant skills and experiences.
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She said unfortunately the contribution of volunteerism to the socio-economic development of the country was not given enough attention, and, therefore called for a change.
“As demonstrated by the experiences of industrialised countries, volunteers are integral players in the provision of education and health services, among other sectors,” she said.
She said even though volunteerism and philanthropy were not visible in the development discourse in Ghana, they had a long history of having been used to provide critical services.
Writer’s email Doreen.andoh@graphic.com.gh