Opening of the Irish Aid Volunteering and Public Information Centre a “Great Opportunity”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
22 January 2008

Opening of the Irish Aid Volunteering and Public Information Centre a "Great Opportunity"

"Great opportunity for the public to engage with the issues that underpin global poverty and inequality," says Director of Irish Development Workers' Association

Dublin, 22 January 2008 - Comhlámh, the Irish Association of Development Workers, today welcomed the opening of the Irish Aid Volunteering and Public Information Centre on Dublin's O'Connell Street.

The new Centre will be officially launched today, Tuesday 22nd January, at Findlater House, O'Connell Street, Dublin, and will open to the public tomorrow.

Since 2004, Comhlámh's Volunteering Options Programme has worked to encourage responsible, responsive international volunteering through the provision of information, training and resources.

Welcoming the new centre, Comhlámh's Interim Director Graham Whitehead praised the new Centre for offering a space for the public to find out more about both volunteering and specific development issues. "Given its ideal location on O'Connell Street, the new Irish Aid Centre will provide members of the public with a great opportunity to engage with the issues that underpin global poverty and inequality. This will help them to consider their options for becoming involved in demanding equality in global relations, either through working from Ireland or through volunteering in the developing world.

Mr Whitehead continued, "Comhlámh believes that for an international volunteering placement to be successful, potential volunteers must be informed of, and think critically about, issues of global development. This involves having an awareness of the forces that link development and underdevelopment throughout the world and the new Irish Aid Centre will have an important role in this respect."

Among the resources that Comhlámh has developed, and which will be promoted through the new Centre, are a website (www.volunteeringoptions.org) and a book, now in its second edition (Working for a Better World: A guide to volunteering in global development). Both contain comprehensive information about all aspects of organising an overseas placement. Additionally, a Volunteer Charter and a Code of Good Practice for Sending Organisations have been developed in conjunction with former volunteers and Irish organisations that place volunteers overseas. These resources support good practice in the international volunteering sector, in addition to encouraging international volunteers to have a long-term commitment to development.

ENDS

CONTACT & AVAILABLE FOR COMMENTS: Graham Whitehead or Paul O'Mahony. Tel: 01-478 3490; email: paul@comhlamh.org or graham@comhlamh.org; Web: www.volunteeringoptions.org and www.comhlamh.org 

Note for Editors: Comhlámh is the Irish Association of Development Workers. Established in 1975, it works to inform, educate and campaign on social justice, human rights and global development issues. The Volunteering Options Programme within Comhlámh is funded by Irish Aid.