Volunteers celebrated, urged to continue their work

Rescue 1122 chief says 30,000 Rescue Mohafiz officials trained in 2017

LAHORE: The Punjab Emergency Service (Rescue 1122), United Nations Volunteer (UNV), Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO) and Humanetek organised an event to commemorate and acknowledge the contribution of volunteers. December 5 is marked worldwide as International Volunteer Day

Prizes and awards were also distributed among the three best teams of the first Provincial Community Emergency Response Exercise 2017.

Minister Youth Affairs & Sports Jahangir Khanzada was the chief guest on the occasion, while Chief Minster’s Chief Social Mobiliser MNA Shaista Perviz Malik was the guest of honour.



The event was attended by local and foreign dignitaries of national and international organizations including UNV, VSO and Humantek. Also, a large number of volunteers from all over Pakistan took part in the event.

The volunteers from VSO, ICRC and Rescue Mohafiz presented their professional skills at different stalls and shared their success stories with other participants to promote volunteerism.

The event aimed to motivate Community Emergency Response Teams (CERTs) which were established at the union council level under the Rescue Mohafiz Programme.

The Rescue Mohafiz Programme was inaugurated on International Volunteers Day in 2016 to enhance emergency readiness and response, apart from ensuring safe, resilient and prosperous communities all over the Punjab.

Rescue 1122 Director General Dr Rizwan Naseer welcomed all dignitaries and paid rich tribute to volunteers. He briefed the audience about the Rescue Mohafiz program and said 1122 had registered 100,000 staff. It also trained 30,000 Rescue Mohafiz during 2017.

First Provincial Community Emergency Response Exercise 2017 was also conducted last week to give them an opportunity to exhibit their emergency response skills.



Speaking on the occasion, Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) Country Director Hashim Bilal appreciated Rescue 1122’s efforts to promote volunteerism. He ensured support for the emergency services by providing 1,600 youth facilitators (Volunteers) VSO to club with Rescue Mohafiz. He said the aim of these individuals was to ensure they worked towards ensuring resilient communities in Pakistan.

He also said that VSO shall provide training to rescue officers and Rescue Mohafiz /CERT leaders to further plan the utilisation of volunteers.

Other dignitaries also congratulated the best teams of the year for their performance in the First Provincial Community Emergency Response Exercise 2017.

Chiniot clinched first position in PCRE 2017, Layyah took second and Lahore was third. They were given prizes and awards. Participants of the exercise were also given certificates on the occasion.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 6^th, 2017.