VIDES volunteers and the Millennium Development Goal
The volunteers of VIDES International are young people between the ages of 18 and 35 years, who are carrying out diverse activities and projects in different countries of the world. Through this network, they are also actively engaged in the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). For example, our volunteers are engaged in the following activities:
Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
- Intervene, in emergency cases (Central America and Sudan), through fundraising, awareness campaigns and provision of basic food at sites in favour of the most vulnerable populations (women and children)
- Interventions in support of eradicating poverty have been initiated on site and via the use of the internet, at various international conferences and conventions. Our volunteers support local associations of youth volunteerism located in 27 countries, in order to share best practices on the techniques of cultivation and management of natural resources.
- Promotion of income generating activities in Brazil, Honduras, Salvador, Mexico, India, Philippines, Cameroon, Zambia, Cambodia, and also selling, through the internet, hand-made products made by local youth groups
- Awareness raising in European, Japanese, American and Canadian communities regarding the support at distance of 10,000 children living in Africa, Asia and Latin America
- Compile data and information based on the volunteer experiences on site, in order to promote relevant participant driven projects related to the fight against hunger and poverty (Sudan, Ethiopia, Cambodia)
Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education
- At the European level, VIDES volunteers take part in the project "Un amico per una classe" (A friend for a class), which aims at guaranteeing primary education for children living in developing countries. The project is a partnership between schools in different countries, on a reciprocal basis.
- Volunteers raise awareness and coordinate interventions for educational support targeting 10,000 children coming from Africa, Asia and Latin America.
- Training is conducted with voluntary leaders, paying specific attention to the education of children, especially girls
- Literacy and basic skills courses are offered to those children who have quit school (India, Brazil)
Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women
- Collect stories and experiences highlighting the contribution of women as “peace mediators” (publication of the book "Woman: peace mediator in India")
- Promote and support vocational training courses for young women (Ethiopia, India, Mexico, Pakistan and Zambia), without distinction of religious faiths
- Support and reinforce the ethnic identity of minority indigenous groups (girls and women of Zoque ethnic group in Mexico - Chiapas)
- Defend the rights of young girls, including those obliged to get married at an early age
- Support and intervene in projects related to young girls living in the street, particularly in the very delicate phases of shelter and reinsertion in society, thanks to the creation of micro-enterprises controlled by women (Colombia, Mexico)
- At the local level, promote youth volunteerism, in particular underlying the importance of girls contribution to society
Goal 4: Reduce child mortality
- Raise awareness in girls and young women regarding the responsibilities they acquire when they become mothers and wives
Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability
- Educate local groups in youth volunteerism in order to take care of their own natural environment
- Foster local capacities to ensure access to natural resources (Cameroon)
Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development
- Thanks to a partnership between Italian and local universities (Brazil), our volunteers facilitate the reinsertion of young people living in the street. The young people are found jobs and safe accommodations.
- Organize local, national and international meetings on debt relief and on the protection of human rights of children and women
- Promote, through networks of volunteers, the diffusion of best practices on youth active citizenship
