This year, October in Abu Dhabi had become a month of conferences dedicated to the leadership in the context of voluntary movements. From 23th to 29th of October three major events were taking place there.

First of theme was the international conference for leaders of voluntary organizations hosted by International Association for Volunteer Effort (IAVE). IAVE is the only international organization that brings together leaders of voluntary organizations, companies and Non-Governmental Organizations, which support voluntary efforts all around the world and encourage other types of humanitarian activities. This year, at the conference organized by the IAVE have gathered 85 leaders from 65 different countries.

Second important and major event was worldwide voluntary conference - World Volunteer Conference (WVC), which happens only once in 2 years. More than a thousand people from 95 different countries participated in this event. This event was dedicated to voluntary organizations, their coordinators and people who lead different voluntary projects.

The third conference was dedicated to GDD Leaders Conference or Good Deeds Day Leaders Conference.

Representatives of RVC and Voluntary Community FSU Nicolai Railean and Nichita Perunov participated in all three of those conferences not to only recognize the experience and achievements of other voluntary organizations, but also to share our own successfully realized projects. One of them was “Healthy Vitamin Box” that revolves around helping people in need to maintain a healthy, balanced diet by fruitful collaborations with local markets and entrepreneurs.

Our speech on GDD Leaders Conference was based on the experience of RVC on hosting Good Deeds Day in Moldova for several years now. Voluntary center RVC is partnered with GDD from 2016. This partnership started after our voluntary center took over all the management over Good Deeds Day. From that point, RVC team is a constant participant in voluntary conferences and meet-ups.

“RVC has been working long and hard to get recognition from other voluntary organizations that participate in an international voluntary movement. In the beginning of 2022, we were proposed to become a part of IAVE and we have accepted such a perspective offer. This was a stepping stone to our productive collaboration and exchange of experience. In the begging there were online meet-ups where we have something to share as well as something to gain”, - noted Nicolai Railean.

Participation in conferences helped to collect a multitude of new ideas and experiences to process. As an example, the organization strategies in organizing work with volunteers in different directions and in different settings. Due to the fact that in GDD Leaders Conference participated around 85 representatives from 65 different countries, conference became a great opportunity to get to know hoe volunteers work in different parts of the world as well as different continents.

Alongside new experiences, our representatives from RVC came back with some fresh ideas for the voluntary center. “We will continue to collaborate with other voluntary organizations – that’s for sure. We’ve exchange contacts with some of their representatives and we are sure that new collaborations are on their way”, - shared Nichita Perunov.