3
Operations
causing food security and water crises. Working with
Tuvalu’s National Disaster Management Office and its
National Action Plan to Combat Land Degradation and
Drought, we have provided emergency food assistance
to affected citizens. In addition, our recovery work has
focused on restoring farming activities in communities
affected by water shortages, building communities’
disaster preparedness capacity and monitoring water and
food security. Our aid efforts are designed to help Tuvalu
build greater self-sufficiency.
Elsewhere, in conjunction with MOFA’s
post-earthquake recovery program in Haiti, we have
continued to promote the second phase of our
resettlement project in New Hope Village. This project
provides guidance to survivors who have sought to
make a new life for themselves after resettling in Savane
Diane in the central highlands of the country. Of the 215
families due to benefit from the project, 192 families have
already signed up to the initiative. The program includes
training for agricultural production and the production of
bamboo handicrafts. Some 322.5 hectares of land has
been allocated to the project for reclamation, with 288
hectares having been planted with crops such as pigeon
peas, maize, peanuts and sorghum to date. We continue
to promote the establishment of farmers’ organizations
among beneficiary households to facilitate the handover
of the project and the success of continuing operations.
In addition, the bamboo handicrafts component of
the project has now entered its fourth training phase.
Beneficiary households receive guidance on the
production of bamboo furniture and bamboo-weaving
techniques, enabling village residents to earn additional
income from sideline production.
In response to international appeals for humanitarian
assistance following a major drought in the Horn of Africa,
we implemented the second phase of a project, Drought
Relief in North Eastern Kenya, in cooperation with Mercy
Corps. The project promoted education and training in
WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene), CHAST (children’s
hygiene and sanitation training) and PHAST (participatory
hygiene and sanitation transformation) services in western
and southern parts of Wajir District, Kenya. The initiative
also saw the construction of underground storage tanks to
improve water storage infrastructure and the construction
of latrines to improve sanitation in schools, and improved
the economic situation of local households by supporting
this construction work through a food-for-work program.
Some 550 volunteers have provided either
development or humanitarian assistance in 35 countries
as part of the TaiwanICDF Overseas Volunteers Service
since its inception in 1996.
Through its many fixed-term assignments, the service
has achieved much over the past 16 years, evolving
over time and expanding in reach from fields such as
agriculture, industry, construction, health care and
education to embrace newer subjects such as ICT. The
program has not only contributed to cultural exchange
and helped to consolidate cooperative relationships with
partner countries, but has also allowed Taiwanese people
to bring their cross-cultural experiences home to enrich
our own society here in Taiwan.
A Shift in Volunteer Recruiting: From Professional
Backgrounds to More General Backgrounds
In the past, volunteers in the program were largely
from professional backgrounds. To ensure that our
service is in line with ongoing reforms to the TaiwanICDF,
and to respect local ownership and achieve results-
oriented development, we have gradually begun
recruiting volunteers into the service from more general
backgrounds. This allows us to better meet the social
or rural development needs of our partner countries. In
addition to playing the role of providers of development
assistance, our volunteers can now become more deeply
immersed in the societies of our partner countries.
They can build more meaningful relationships with local
personnel and work more closely with their counterparts
to implement projects. This deep interchange between
our volunteers and partner countries helps capacity
building and represents an important means of support
for our activities in the local communities of our partner
countries.
Enhancing Effectiveness through Volunteer Service
Coordinators
Secondly, we have gradually introduced Volunteer
Service Coordinators to oversee and manage volunteers
Overseas Volunteers
30
