Voluntary Community Development Project as a Platform for Advocacy and Social Action
Joseph Osuigwe Chidiebere | September 22 | 1:30-2:30 PM | Room 3020
Volunteers are the most important resources community organizations have and need to be encouraged to carryout community development projects on anti-human trafficking. It is expedient to engage volunteers in advocacy and social action against human trafficking. To affirm the crucial role of volunteers in combating human trafficking, we mentored 50 volunteers to carryout community development projects in their communities. This presentation expounds how volunteers effectively engaged in advocacy and social action through community development projects. Fifty volunteers (between 19 and 30 years old) were mentored to carry out community development projects in four states in Nigeria in commemoration of 2017 World Day Against Trafficking in Persons. The volunteers were empowered with advocacy materials. They were expected to engage in advocacy and social action within two months before joining in the commemoration of World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, and send their reports for evaluation. From the evaluation, the results showed that all the volunteers engaged in strategic anti-human trafficking advocacy and social action through the following approaches: media campaign, community sensitization, school awareness, radio talk, training youth corps members, debate competition, etc. Three of the volunteers reported incidences of human trafficking and identified victims. Through their community development projects, they stimulated over 3,000 to be involved in combating human trafficking.
Presentation Objectives:
- Explain the importance of the role of volunteers in advocacy and social action
- Describe how volunteers effectively engaged in advocacy and social action through community development projects
- Describe what volunteers did to engage in advocacy and social action