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Ghana on Tuesday set up a 13-Member Volunteerism National Planning Committee to promote a common understanding of voluntary work and a shared appreciation of its value in the country. The Committee is also mandated to establish and nurture an enabling environment for volunteers, adopt a diversity of approaches for mobilizing and facilitating volunteerism, and address the key issue of sustained funding and support. The Committee is to serve as a coordinating body to provide the opportunity for the collation of data on volunteers and serve as a useful bridge between the demand and supply by providing information on volunteers for organisations requiring volunteering services. It will also ensure some form of security for volunteers, especially as they may be susceptible to exploitation and abuse, including the disturbing trend of human trafficking with the increase in volunteer recruiting organisations in Ghana. The Committee will promote a conducive national environment to ensure that volunteers are able to deliver efficient services in order to optimize their human resource. The Membership includes Mr. Dela Ashiabor, Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection; Pastor Chris Kofi Nyame, President, Coalition of Volunteering Organizations in Ghana (COVOG); Mr. James Kodwo Morgan, Chairman, Youth Development through Sports (YDS Ghana) and Mr. Ernest Kofi Nyame-Annan, National Youth Coordinator, Ghana Red Cross Society. Others are; Ms. Betty Simate, Programme Officer, United Nations Volunteers, Field Unit; Ms. Hannah Meizah Ghanson, Programme Assistant, United Nations Volunteers, Field; Ms. Abena Acheampong, Country Director, World University Services of Canada; Ms. Kafui Mills Odoi, Senior Programme Manager in charge of Programme Development, VSO. The rest are; Mr. Alex Soungalo, Country Director, France Voluntaries; Mr. Peter Otokunor, Deputy Director for Projects and Programmes, NYA; Nii Dodoo Dodoo, Country Director, Youth Challenge International; Mr. Kwarteng Frimpong, Programmes Coordinator, YMCA, Ghana; and Ms. Beatrice Larbi-Billa, PRO VOLU-Ghana. Nana Oye Lithur, Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection who inaugurated the committee explained that volunteering in Ghana has become one of the building blocks of society. She said the national drive for citizens to contribute to communal and national development through volunteering has waned in recent times��this notwithstanding, we acknowledge the immense contribution of volunteering to the development of the various sectors of the Ghanaian society�. She used the occasion to commend various organisations: Peace Corps, United Nations Volunteers programme, the Australian Volunteer Programme, Voluntary Services Overseas working with persons with disabilities, the Korea International Coorperation Agency and Right to Play and many other organisations, who have sustained voluntary work in Ghana. She said the value of volunteering is becoming increasingly well documented: in its contribution to economic growth and a nation�s Gross Domestic Product; in building social, cultural and human capital; and in giving a sense of value and purpose to individuals and communities threatened by forces of modernization and development. Nana Oye Lithur said Governments, civil society and the private sector all have important roles to play in ensuring that the environment supports volunteerism as a strategy for building civic participation and addressing social development goals. �We must therefore work towards achieving a favorable policy and regulatory framework; recognition and promotion of volunteerism for development; and committed national leadership. There is therefore the need to harness this resource and optimize it. There is also a real need to properly organize and integrate volunteers to create the avenue for the recognition of their work,� she said. Mr Samson Nii Trebi, acting Director, Department of Social Welfare contributing to the discussion called for a national action to ignite the spark into a great flame, and thereby enhance the quality and quantity of volunteerism. He said a permanent institutional vehicle to enhance volunteerism as a social investment could make a significant contribution to the nation. Mr Morgan, who is the Chairman of Youth Development through Sports, on behalf of the planning committee members, explained that with a solid and rich experience in the field of volunteerism not only in Ghana, but globally, the committee will work to fulfill its mandate. �We humbly accept the responsibility and assure you that we on our part and with the needed support from the Gender Ministry and other stakeholders will work assiduously to achieve the task. Nothing in this world comes easy, but with determination and commitment we will make the dream a reality,� he said.