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Champions of volunteering and Human Rights, 5 December, International Volunteer Day


03/12/2018

To mark the International Volunteer Day and 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Red Cross of Serbia will in partnership with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights team in Serbia organise a panel discussion entitled Champions of volunteering and Human Rights. The panel discussion will be organised between 12:00 and 15:00 in EU Info Centre, Kralja Milana 7, Belgrade.

Negative stereotypes of ageing and older people are one of the root causes of discrimination, they are an obstacle in accessing one’s human rights and they undermine dignity of life in the older age. And while sexism and racism have been made illegal, ageism is still widely tolerated.

Volunteering is one of the ways to challenge ageist stereotypes because it shows something that should be obvious: the contribution of older people to their communities and the society at large.

For some older people volunteering is a way to pay back to the society; for the others it is an opportunity to learn new skills and have new experiences. It also has positive health effects, such as reduced risk of depression in the older age and the improved overall health, which in turn increases the potential of older people to be active citizens.

The participants of the panel discussion will include volunteers of the Red Cross of Serbia, older persons active in HumanaS network member organisations as well as university students: Natasa Todorovic, Red Cross of Serbia: Volunteering, Human Rights, Dignity; Miroslava Matic: Human rights from local to global level; Danica Smic: Volunteering in the community; Nadezda Sataric: Volunteering and citizens activism; prof. dr Mile Milosavljević: Volunteering enhances visibility of older people’s human rights; prof. dr Dejan Sumrak: The right to lifelong learning through volunteering; Teodora Hrnjakovic: Volunteering and social cohesion; Milos Todorovic: Volunteering over the life course.