Fifth Seminar on International Voluntary Service (Strasbourg, 5-9 November 1973)
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly debate on 10 May 1974 (6th Sitting) (see Doc. 3416, report of the Committee on Social and Health Questions). Text adopted by the Assembly on 10 May 1974 (6th Sitting).
The Assembly,
1. Having taken note of the proceedings and conclusions of the 5th Seminar on International Voluntary Service held at Strasbourg from 5 to 9 November 1973 ;
2. Reaffirming that the intrinsic nature of volontary service enables it to be given a place of its own in development operations, not least because voluntary service can count on very wide support of youth ;
3. Welcoming the creation of voluntary organisations in the developing countries, and attaching the highest importance to the development of relationships and the coordination of efforts between domestic and expatriate volunteers ;
4. Welcoming the setting up of multinational teams of volunteers by the United Nations Volunteers and the International Secretariat for Volunteers (ISVS), and the assistance given by the latter to domestic volunteer programmes in developing countries ;
5. Considering that the Council of Europe member states have a particularly important role to play in development cooperation and in the coordination of the work of the organisations established in their territories which work for development ;
6. Stressing the importance of adequate training of volunteers which should enable them to work for projects for which there is a real need in the developing countries,
7. Decides to transmit the conclusions of the 5th Seminar to the appropriate United Nations Specialised Agencies, to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, the European Economic Community, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and to the International Secretariat for Volunteer Service ;
8. Invites OECD
to make a comparative study of existing arrangements for government cofinancing of non-governmental organisations' development projects with a view to submitting proposals for their harmonisation, and
to study the possibility of setting up an international programme of development project registration ;
9. Invites its Committee on Social and Health Questions to carry out a study of the European volunteer movement and its coordinating organisations, with a view to concentrating the efforts of the organisations concerned in the Council of Europe member states ;
10. Confirms its earlier decision to be represented at the Committee of the Regional Conference on International Voluntary Service by one of its members who shall be appointed by the Committee on Social and Health Questions ;
11. Takes note of the proposal made by the 5th Seminar that a 6th Seminar be convened by the Assembly at an appropriate moment, and instructs its Committee on Social and Health Questions to make proposals to it in due course for the organisation of such a seminar ;
12. Supports fully the fifth resolution adopted by the 5th Seminar on participation of experts from developing countries in the Seminar on International Voluntary Service, and expresses the hope that adequate financial provision will be made available in the budget of the Council of Europe and by the national and specialised international bodies concerned.
