In three years, number of volunteer workers reaches 57 mi in Brazil

BRASILIA. KAZINFORM Brazil boasts 57 million active volunteers. During the COVID-19 pandemic, approximately 47 percent of them started new activities, despite social distancing. The figures can be found in the Pesquisa Voluntariado no Brasil 2021 («2021 Survey on Volunteer Work in Brazil»), by Datafolha Institute. Building a network to connect those seeking to collaborate and those in need of help is one of the goals of the national volunteer incentive program, also known as Pátria Voluntária («Volunteer Nation»).

«If your neighbor or a community near you needs help but you can’t offer any by yourself, we can provide effective support under the program. We can bridge this gap—which is why the initiative is so vital,» said Pollyana Andrade, the initiative’s executive secretary, in an interview for Brasil em Pauta, on TV Brasil, part of the country’s public broadcasting network, Agencia Brasil reports.

The initiative was unveiled in 2019 and aims to encourage Brazilians to take part in volunteer activities, especially for the benefit of people under social vulnerability. In an articulated manner, the program seeks to make the government, the private sector, and organizations act to support those most in need.

During the interview, the secretary noted that Pátria Voluntária is founded on five pillars: accessibility, volunteering, social engagement, social transformation, and humanitarian aid.

«We work with volunteer work and humanitarian aid whenever the country faces a catastrophe or emergency. Pátria Voluntária also joins efforts with ministries as well as state and municipal agencies. Our contribution lies in linking donations to people who need them. We work with social transformation. Our social projects are active across the country. On the social engagement front, we have our campaigns, there’s Solidarity Christmas, several campaigns throughout the year, and some specific ones that we roll out as the need arises,» she stated.

COVID-19

In 2018, Brazil’s official statistics agency IBGE reported that about 6.5 million people were doing volunteer work in the country at that time—considerably below the figure in the survey published by Datafolha this year.

«The pandemic landscape brought along with it a lot of learning. Collaboration—dedicating some time to someone—was evident during the pandemic, when a lot of people were isolated. You often had to spend some time helping your neighbor, help the elderly who couldn’t leave their homes, or couldn’t buy medicine. Simple tasks. This encouraged people to act in solidarity,» the executive secretary declared. «These are small and simple things, but they were enough to make this change in people. That also falls under volunteer,» she went on to remark.

Photo: agenciabrasil.ebc.com.br