THE Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, in collaboration with CUSO International, launched a website and held a fair to highlight the work of volunteers in Guyana, on Thursday at the Umana Yana in Kingston, Georgetown.

Permanent Secretary (PS) of the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, Mr Alfred King, remarked briefly that the Volunteerism Support Platform (VSP) was established to create a national link, for which a structure was developed for volunteers.

He added that research conducted in 2010 had found there was need to facilitate the platform for volunteers for national development. In 2012, the VSP was launched, and it was recognised that volunteers not only employed special skills to national development, but their time as well, for which training is a benchmark.

The PS said launching of the VSP enabled the ministry to appreciate the value of the contribution made by volunteers, and it was noted that there was need for a more structured approach in managing volunteers and their activities.

Thus, he said, a network arrangement was put in place whereby the VSP was launched, and with the website in place now, information can be shared, for which mobilisation can take place easily.

King pointed out that the work of volunteers is very meaningful. He robustly praised the impact volunteers have made through their work, and expressed gratitude to all the organisations that participated in the fair yesterday.

Taramattie Persaud, representing the VSP’s Advisory Committee of CUSO International, yesterday told the gathering that it was a significant initiative for the VSP, and community groups and schools can benefit.

She said that with the website launched, mobilisation, training and referrals have been made easy for all sectors to achieve their goals in volunteerism.

Having outlined the role of VSP, Ms Persaud explained that the role of the private sector can be enhanced in terms of providing opportunities for skills training for young people on the job, because that was an area of urgent priority.

She pointed out that the website was launched to coincide with International Youth Day celebrations, and she appealed for the National Youth Policy to take cognisance of volunteerism, and hoped that the policy would soon be finalised.

The VSP website is www.vsp.gy and its main purpose is for information sharing; while the fair highlighted the work of volunteerism through flyers and other tokens distributed.