Volunteers awarded

Kathmandu, Dec. 5: Narayan Kumar Shrestha of Dhading, Rajan Shrivastav of Parsa and Sajana Sunar of Surkhet were presented with the ‘V-Awards 2017’ along with a cash prize of Rs. 50,000 each.

The government and various international volunteer organisations awarded them on the occasion of International Volunteer Day on Tuesday.

They were awarded at a special programme organised here to mark the day.

Expressing their experiences of volunteering during the Gorkha Earthquake 2015, Terai floods 2017 and other occasions, they said that the volunteers should be selfless and serve the community without any discrimination.

Speaking at the programme, United Nations Resident Coordinator in Nepal Valerie Julliand said that the volunteers should not only help people in need but they should also support in the development of the society and the nation.

She urged one and all to awaken the spirit of volunteerism and service in the youth.

Deputy Programme Director of the Peace Corps Dinesh Karki said that volunteerism ranged from education to food security and individual to organisation and country level.

Executive Director of Nepal Red Cross Society Umesh Prasad Dhakal stated that the volunteers were the service providers and information collectors at the same time.

“While there is still a long way ahead for full recovery, we honour and praise the contributions made and solidarity created by volunteers in Nepal. We also recognise the importance of strengthening multi-stakeholder partnership to continue promoting the value of volunteerism to approach today’s challenge and to better prepare to deal uncertainty in the future,” read a joint statement by the volunteer organizations.

The Nepal theme of International Volunteer Day 2017 is in line with the global campaign, Volunteer Act First.