The United Nations International Volunteers Day was celebrated on the 5th of December – with the chosen theme for this year – Volunteers Act first.

To mark the occasion the Gozo NGOs Association organised a conference at the Ministry for Gozo titled – Future Proofing the Gozo VO Sector.

Speaking at the conference the Minister for Gozo Justyne Caruana stressed the importance of volunteering in Gozo, saying that for this reason the Ministry for Gozo helps the local voluntary sector in several ways, not only financially but also by allocating staff to various NGOs, so that they can operate more efficiently.

Dr Caruana pointed out that there should be greater accountability and visibility of the contribution of allocated workers. “In this way we are also able to quantify how much the Government is really assisting, so that we are able to strengthen the voluntary sector allowing it to cater for future challenges.”

She explained that the Ministry for Gozo is preparing for the second edition of the Gozo NGO Assistance Scheme that will enable Gozitan VOs to benefit from funding to carry out their projects.

One of the organisations that benefited from this scheme was the Emergency Response and Rescue Corp of Gozo, after they submitted two projects, both of which were selected because of their importance to the field of rescue..

The first project was the public defibrillator located at the Citadel and inaugurated a few days ago, while the second project was the purchase of drones, together with training on flying the drones for rescue purposes.

The ERRC provided training on the drones to several entities, including members of the Police Force, members of the Civil Protection, as well as the ERRC volunteers.

At the end of training, the Minister for Gozo congratulated the ERRC on their professional training initiative which was proved by experts brought specially from Ireland.

Dr Caruana stressed the need for more equipment, training and coordination between the various bodies involved in security and rescue.

“All human life is precious and we must do all we can, by any means we have, so as to save people who need help. Rescue through the use of drones is a device that relies on the latest technology which means there is a direct intervention in a much faster time,” said the Minister.

Dr Caruana urged the country to invest more in this type of technology and expressed her satisfaction that the very first training of this kind was in Gozo, through Gozitan NGO funds acquired from the Ministry for Gozo for this purpose.

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