08 March 2005

Speech by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Paul Boateng MP, at the Edith Kahn Memorial

“Think Global, Act Local in YV05”

Opening Comments

1. Thank you Lord Levy, Elisabeth, for that kind introduction, and let me welcome you all here to the Treasury too. I am honoured to deliver tonight’s lecture in memory of Edith Kahn.

2. The Treasury is an open door department, and one that does recognise the importance of volunteering. We value and treasure the importance of the voluntary sector, and have sought to engage over the years with its dynamism and entrepreneurialism.

3. But today we are valuing Edith Kahn’s contribution to this sector. Edith was someone who for over two decades enthusiastically led innovative and dynamic work as the head teacher of Fleet Primary School in Hampstead.

4. I know that Edith epitomised the spirit of volunteering – that she organised, amongst other things, celebrations for the Hampstead Millennium and CSV’s own Silver Jubilee.

5. Edith symbolised the many people like her who give of themselves in volunteering, day in and out. They are the very fabric of what makes communities work. I want to reflect today on what makes our communities work – our world work – as we wrestle with challenges on globalisation, poverty and the environment.

6. Ralph Waldo Emerson once said “nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm”. And I think we all recognise the importance of enthusiasm – it is something that helps you through desperation and through despair.

7. Having peeked at the website, I notice that these lectures have in the past been delivered by some august speakers, including my colleague John Reid, Rabbi Julia Neuberger, and Professor Lord Desai.

8. When I think of the likes of these people – and of Andrew Rowe – a Conservative colleague now retired from the House who I met when neither of us were MPs, at the preparatory committee for the first telethon – it is an honour to join their number. They are all enthusiasts with different passions and perceptions, but a clear commitment to the voluntary sector.

9. So it is my pleasure to continue this tradition this evening, to both remember Edith and to look forward. We are entitled to enthusiastically celebrate citizen engagement with the public, private and voluntary sectors. And to focus very much on the role and impact of volunteering – and how we can both think global and act local in this year of the volunteer.

Idealism in the Global Era

10. This has to be a year for practical idealism. We need to foster this idealism, at a time of great cynicism. You can have a lot of rhetoric around ideals, but the reality is that “words without actions are the assassins of idealism”.

11. You have to link words with action – and we must foster a willingness to act. If it isn’t fostered, such idealism isn’t given a channel to develop.

12. So in this Year of the Volunteer, there is a greater than ever demand on individuals in this country to participate, contribute and to help out.

13. It is a moment to focus efforts at home, through organisations like TimeBank, and overseas, with poverty reduction in Africa. It is effort at home and abroad at a time when global concerns increasingly matter to local communities.

14. And anyone who has seen the Make Poverty History armbands, will know how they have sprung up among young and old, sparking off conversations in the most unlikely of places. I had a chat with someone at a bank counter the other day who had one – the fact that we both did just got us talking – it really is touching people far and wide.

15. And tapping into this enthusiasm is what we need this year – at this time when global concerns matter increasingly to local people.

16. For we have a wider context to consider now. Not only is 2005 the year of the volunteer, but it is fast becoming a tipping point on which we can balance action to reduce poverty across the developing world.

17. We need to expel the stereotypes around volunteering, for we have reached a level now where volunteers can overcome this. No longer the blue rinse and open-toed sandals stereotypes – we now celebrate the professionalism of this sector as it has moved forward, not least under the stewardship of CSV.

18. There is still a tendency for some to characterise the sector in this way. Yet overall, there is also an increasing respectfulness of the professionalism in the sector that provides a great opportunity to go forward.

Trusted Volunteering

19. But, there was a time when volunteering in an overseas context was seen as patronising. Sure, there were examples where standards fell short. But now there is a greater professionalism in the delivery of development programmes in the context of volunteering efforts overseas.

20. And successful volunteering depends on such a robust and trusted framework of support. I have long worked with CSV – seen the importance of their work, and the professionalism they bring to the voluntary sector. So I know that it is such organisations – like CSV, like the VSO – that can provide the right organisational structure within which to deliver volunteering that really makes a difference.

21. CSV is of course the UK’s largest volunteering and training organisation. There are over 164,000 CSV volunteers giving over 4 million hours of time each year in the UK alone.

22. This means volunteers working in schools to help improve reading ages. Volunteers assisting hospitals and GP surgeries, to help cut patient visits by something like 30%. It means volunteers going into prisons to support young offenders, to man visitor centres, and to mentor young people at risk of offending. And volunteers to help enable people with disabilities live independently. Volunteering in so many different ways.

23. This is real and trusted work on the ground – making volunteering the motor for driving communities forward. And while there have been concerns about the integrity of some voluntary work, the 1998 Compact was a first step to address these.

24. The independence of the voluntary sector is enshrined within the Compact, recognises the importance of consultation, and draws on their experience.

25. We are helping address some of the barriers which can sometimes prevent the voluntary and community organisation from operating. This is where partnership working really comes into its own.

Volunteering in Practice

26. I particularly want to pay tribute to CSV in its role in characterising the way in which voluntary organisations contribute to public service delivery and overseas aid. I have been to many of your seminars and I know this is particularly important in the context of our international relationships.

27. Our embassies in Madrid, Berlin and Paris have all hosted volunteering events. I look forward to seeing this capacity building work developed in an African context.

28. I believe that robustly managed voluntary work can be both effective and a good example of idealism in practice. We see this with the Millennium Volunteers, whose partner organisations provide services for specific ethnic and national groups in the UK.

29. Good examples include Eritreans, Chinese, Saharan Africans and Iraqi groups, including those whose parents are still in these countries. They provide services directly to the public sector.

30. I saw a fantastic example recently in a school in Harlesden, in partnership with a school in Soweto. That was very exciting and was happening irrespective of government. It is happening because local people wanted it to happen and are making it happen – so that schools, with volunteers from staff, business, pupils and parents in the two institutions were really making a difference.

31. And the VCS, the development of volunteering for civil society, is not just an issue for the developed world – the advantages for the developing world are clear. And this is not just a north/south issue – it is also a key challenge for the EU too, encouraging volunteering in Eastern Europe.

32. On my recent visit to Mali, I saw a growing recognition there of civil society and voluntary organisations playing a part in the development of the country. They confront issues such as HIV, infant mortality and skills.

33. And we see it too in the Commonwealth Fellows, who are focused on delivering through professional managers of volunteers, supported by CSV and VSO. Funded by the Commonwealth Foundation, these fellows come to Britain on placement to gain experience of the UK and to take away best practice for their own organisations overseas.

34. We see it too in corporate links, for example with the work of Barclays, who have even been successful in promoting the Make a Difference Day event beyond the UK. It’s quite remarkable, but over the past few years thousands of Barclays employees across Africa and Europe have organised volunteering projects.

35. Last year 3,000 of the bank’s 8,000 employees in Africa took part in over 450 Make a Difference Day activities. That ranged across eleven countries. This is global volunteering on a most incredible scale.

36. And they were joined by over 100 government officials and members of the public, with coverage from newspapers, radio and television outlets. The work of Barclays in Africa illustrates how voluntary work can support local communities.

37. This brings me to the immensely valuable Global Xchange project. This draws together the extensive experience of CSV and VSO with the network of British Council offices and local partners.

38. It is a programme that truly brings young people together in a volunteering context. I met recently with some young people involved in the project’s forerunner – the World Youth programme – where they had undertaken a project in Indonesia and Luton, of which they shared their volunteering experiences. They had the idealism and the skills, and have applied these in both countries.

39. Some had it quite tough, while others have at some stage lost their way, and found it again. Yet from different racial and religious backgrounds, all were absolutely focused on the activity in hand, working on common projects in both places.

40. Global Xchange will take this a step further, working with teams of eighteen to help gain experience and knowledge of host countries. The model is a simple one – three months working in Britain and three months abroad. Half the volunteers are from Britain and half from the host country.

41. But the range of experience – and the contributions to be made – are enormously impressive. Countries range from Nigeria and the Philippines to Indonesia – as I mentioned – and Kazakhstan, with contact in Britain from Bradford and Bristol to Glasgow.

42. Global Xchange starts this month, and I am confident that the work put in will lead to raised awareness of development and diversity across our world, not least through putting a focus on global citizenship that has resonance on the ground across local communities.

43. We hear a lot about the MTV generation but music videos are not the totality of young peoples’ experience. There is a wider experience through joint participation in volunteering that can bring people together.

Partnership Working

44. So real partnerships, partnerships for change – with responsibilities that, yes, we do need to back up with funds. Like the £125m Futurebuilders Fund that provides “tailored finance” packages to improve third sector and public service delivery.

45. I know that what makes this work is that it was owned by the sector. This ownership from the very start made it succeed – a lesson we must learn for future work together.

46. We know that imposition by government simply does not work, and we have absolutely learnt in the Treasury never to sacrifice the independence or leadership of the sector itself. Indeed – we owe you all, and CSV in particular, a real debt of gratitude for the way in which over many years in good times and in bad you have protected the independence of the sector.

47. I hope we have demonstrated our understanding of this with the Change Up programme which concentrates on capacity building and infrastructure framework. This is driven by a shared vision of frontline voluntary and community organisations playing their full potential in improving the quality of life of the communities they serve. Organisations that aim to catalyse a step change in the support available to frontline organisations for the longer term.

48. The private sector has also shown that it can play a role in developing more cohesive communities – demonstrated well, as I have indicated, by companies like Barclays, Diageo and Shell in Africa. Industry can provide opportunities, infrastructure, volunteers, and the expertise that can be invaluable as we strive to deliver high quality services – and to engage young people in particular. I see some real opportunities ahead in the context of the Commission for Africa for business mentoring.

49. I know that working together is not always straightforward – the aspiration to work in partnership brings with it new processes, new demands and new challenges – all of which can be daunting.

50. But well organised volunteering gives us the option to deliver a joint vision of better public service delivery in a more caring and cohesive society. Partnerships between – and within – these sectors are the key to delivering this promise, to let volunteers help make a reality of dry strategies and well-intentioned but academic plans.

International Challenge

51. When cast against international events and global issues, the importance of pooling resources and talent is clear. For the issues are that bit bigger – that extra bit more difficult to surmount. The effort required to meet these challenges grows ever larger.

52. Bill Clinton once said that “globalization is not something we can hold off or turn off… it is the economic equivalent of a force of nature – like wind or water."

53. And these global challenges are clearly not going to simply disappear. For example, despite the promise of every world leader, government and international authority to achieve primary education for all, a two thirds fall in infant mortality and a halving of global poverty by 2015, progress is simply not good enough.

54. Currently, primary education for all in sub-Saharan Africa will not be delivered as the Millennium Development Goals promised in 2015 but in 2130 –115 years late.

55. The halving of poverty will not occur as the richest countries promised by 2015 but by 2150 – 135 years late. And the elimination of avoidable infant deaths will not happen as the richest nations promised by 2015 but by 2165 – 150 years late.

56. So it is incumbent on us to do more – both as individuals and as governments. After all, 150 years is far too long to ask people to wait for justice. The Chancellor spoke well when he said: “justice promised will forever be justice denied until we remove from this generation the burden of debts incurred by past generations”.

57. Well, any such justice promised will remain justice denied in the 21st century unless we remove trade barriers that undermine economic empowerment, and unless there is a bold plan for Africa and all poorest countries.

58. This needs intergovernmental effort and commitment, which is where the EU and G8 presidencies play a strong role. But volunteers can also make a local difference in contributing to public awareness of these issues at a local level – and in providing real assistance when needed.

59. For example, we have seen campaigns like ‘Make Poverty History’, for which Nelson Mandela spoke a few weeks back. This is a movement that covers more than a hundred aid, development, and trade organisations.

60. And this year is the twentieth anniversary of Live Aid – a singular event which was for millions of people the first time they really confronted the reality of famine and death in Africa. The first time people rose to the challenge of global concerns.

61. And we have the exceptional example of individuals and communities working to support people in need with the Indian Ocean tsunami appeal. Thousands of people contributing millions of pounds when most needed. Organisations that relied on voluntary assistance worldwide.

62. This is what voluntary work can achieve internationally – the kind of civic engagement and positive help that matters locally. And this work heavily involved young people.

Global Poverty Reduction

63. It is against this benchmark that we must work. I said that 2005 is a year of change, and in government, globalisation often means working together to surmount the challenges of the day. To act through our common endeavour to achieve viable solutions to recalcitrant problems.

64. So 2005 represents a rare opportunity for us, an important chance to entrench and drive forward the international development agenda.

65. We have seized this moment, creating the Commission for Africa which reports very soon, and that can mobilise support from the richest countries. Support for NEPAD, for the African Union and for individual, country by country programmes that enables Africa to build on its progress and success to date to face the challenges of tomorrow.

66. To make the 21st century world better – to do our bit in parallel to volunteers, we have focused on debt relief. There is a fundamental need to provide more help for the world’s poorest countries. HIPC has shown how such debt relief – where funded through additional resources – can help countries to invest in infrastructure and education, which in turn supports long term growth.

67. We have focused on trade. We know that trade has the potential to make a tangible impact on poverty reduction. So, a priority for 2005 is working towards a freer and fairer global trading system. We can achieve this through ambitious, liberalising and pro-development outcomes from the Doha round of WTO negotiations

68. And we have focused on aid volumes. There must be a substantial increase in resources for development – and the Commission for Africa report is likely to recommend an immediate doubling of aid to Africa, which means an additional $25bn.

69. We need action as bold and generous as the Marshall Plan of the 1940s which helped lift Europe from post-war rubble and ruin. This is why we proposed an International Finance Facility which over the next ten years will generate $50 billion of resources – the quickest, most effective way to guarantee long-term, stable, predictable funding.

70. A facility that can realistically double aid to halve poverty – to provide $6 billion more each year to fund primary education that is free of charge, and that ensures the 105 million children who are today denied schooling can learn with classrooms, teachers and books.

Closing Remarks

71. So as Edith Kahn would have recognised, we should continue to think globally – reflecting on our experience and knowledge – yet treating the challenge of poverty and development with the seriousness needed in 2005.

72. But we must remain committed to local action. Committed to voluntary work where possible, engaging young people, and harnessing the diversity of talent, experience and knowledge that can lift communities.

73. We must never compromise on the independence and leadership of the sector. I know that it is the passion, the enthusiasm of the people involved in volunteering – this is what makes the outcomes of the sector so special, that makes things happen.

74. I would argue that in this year of volunteering, of joint presidencies, to actually achieve on the Millennium Development Goals – it is this passion, this enthusiasm in volunteering that represents and reflects the best hope for this world, at local and at global level.

75. Thank you.