National Volunteering and it's social impact

_{National Volunteering and its Social Impact}

_{The Environmental Projects of the Nepal Friendship Society}

 _{Volunteerism is not only about the direct outcome of a project. Ideally it should serve as an impulse that generates impact not only in a small group of people, but also in the whole community. The Nepal Friendship Society’s vision is to generate this kind of social impact through large-scale national volunteering. One of the biggest environmental problems in Nepal is the limited waste infrastructure and the resulting illegal waste dumping practices. The Society has started several activities with large numbers of local volunteers to promote environment conservation, such as a clean-up programme, a “Say No to Plastic Bags” campaign, trainings on composting and education programmes for school children.  By involving mostly young people as volunteers, the Society wants to ensure that community members learn to take responsibility for their environment from an early age.}

 

_{Achievements:}

• _{More than one thousand national volunteers annually participate in the projects of the Nepal Friendship Society. Through collective national volunteering the community takes ownership and is empowered to protect their environment.}
• _{The organization trains more than 400 women and 700 children and youths per year. They carry on the knowledge into their families and thus act as multipliers. This way, public awareness for environmental issues in Nepal is raised.}
• _{By educating and empowering the national volunteers and the community, the community’s resilience and the environmental resilience are strengthened.}