Second World Congress for Community Volunteers supporting offender reintegration

Led by the Rehabilitation Bureau of the Ministry of Justice of Japan, with a welcome keynote by CEP Ambassador Steve Pitts, Dr. Frank Porporino will moderate an interactive panel-audience discussion on 17 April, during the 6th World Congress (16-18 April), in The Hague (Registration deadline 1st March, Last few days to register!). The event will bring together speakers from countries and regions as diverse as Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Canada, the USA, Kenya, and Europe. The panel will share examples of the many varied and important roles undertaken by volunteers who provide a bridge between statutory services and communities, help “demystify” probation and parole work, and fulfil the vital task of engaging community support in reintegration. Volunteers work as good neighbours to support desistance and human potential and ultimately help build safer societies.

The 2nd WCCV will focus sharply on the needs of volunteers and how we can more strongly support them. Those needs include training and recognition, managing challenges involved in recruiting and sustaining volunteers, in developing and disseminating their work, and in cultivating further public understanding and engagement in reintegration. The panel of distinguished speakers will include:

• Mr. Shoji IMAFUKU Japan
• Mr. Clement Okech – Kenya
• Ms. Karen LEE – Singapore
• Mr. Ruangsak Suwaree – Thailand
• Dr. Andrew Watson – UK
• Ms. Diane Williams – USA
• (Speaker TBC) – Netherlands
• (Speaker TBC) – Canada

To encourage and recognise volunteers worldwide, the 2nd WCCV will propose a Declaration to establish an annual volunteer day to help foster, extend, and sustain the role and contribution of community volunteers globally.

the 2nd WCCV is also aligned with the goals of the CoPPer project, which aims to promote the active engagement of citizens, civil society, and social partners in the social inclusion of people who commit crimes. The CoPPer project seeks to ensure that we all play our role as key guarantors of a common European culture of rule of law, common values, democracy, freedom, security, and prosperity. to learn more about CoPPer, go to the website and one of CEP’s projects.