Asia-Pacific countries urged to support Kazakhstan's initiative to proclaim the International Year of Volunteer Mobilization

Today, March 22, 2021, in Bangkok (Thailand), within the framework of the VIII Asia-Pacific Forum, a panel discussion "Volunteerism as a transformation strategy for the Decade of Action"was held.
Vice-Minister of Information and Public Development of Kazakhstan Bolat Tlepov took part in the event in an online format through the connection of the Zoom platform.
At the beginning of his speech, Bolat Tlepov congratulated the participants of the Asia-Pacific Forum on the holiday, noting that the forum coincided with a special date for Kazakhstan and Central Asian countries associated with the celebration of the bright holiday of Nauryz. "Originating in ancient times, this holiday marks a cycle of renewal and the birth of a new life. This is a truly national celebration that contributes to the strengthening of friendship, mutual respect and harmony, " Bolat Tlepov said.
He drew the attention of the participants to the fact that the pandemic demonstrated how vulnerable and interdependent humanity is, despite the fact that the world lives in a technological era.
During his speech, Bolat Tlepov spoke about the role of volunteers in the public life of the country and the conditions created for the development of the volunteer movement in Kazakhstan.
So, he said that only in 2020, which was held in Kazakhstan under the auspices of the "Year of the Volunteer", the number of volunteer organizations and groups increased 3 times, the number of permanent volunteers increased 4 times, which is more than 200 thousand people. "During the fight against the pandemic, about 1 million Kazakhstanis joined the volunteer movement and provided assistance to more than 1.5 million of our citizens," he said.
At the same time, Bolat Tlepov emphasized that Kazakhstan is working on the development of international volunteerism.
It should be noted that one of the incentive measures is the international award "Volunteer of the Year", which was established as part of the Year of the Volunteer in Kazakhstan. Last year, it was awarded to 48 active volunteers from Kazakhstan, Russia, and Kyrgyzstan. In addition, today 71 volunteers from Kazakhstan serve in the UN system, 42 of them are women, including 7 volunteers, sent to various UN agencies under the Partnership Agreement between the Ministry of Information and Public Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan and UNV.
Bolat Tlepov recalled that Kazakhstan initiated the inclusion in the text of the UN General Assembly resolution of the item on the recognition of volunteerism as a universal means of implementing the Agenda for Sustainable Development for the period up to 2030. Recall that this resolution was supported by the UN member states and adopted in December 2020.
Bolat Tlepov: "As you know, last year, the President of Kazakhstan K.At the 75th session of the UN General Assembly, Tokayev took the initiative to proclaim the International Year of Volunteer Mobilization. To date, we are working together with UNV to promote it and prepare a relevant UN resolution. In this regard, we ask the participating countries of the Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development to support the initiative of Kazakhstan and make the global idea of "Good Deeds"a reality.

For reference:
The Asia-Pacific Forum is organized under the auspices of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) to promote regional dialogue on development issues.