Ghanaians have been urged to see voluntary work as a necessary part of skills development and employment of human capital, Dr Antoinette Tsiboe-Darko at the Centre for Social Policy Studies, University of Ghana has stated in Accra.

She said graduates were sitting at home with skills and so if some structures were put place to assure them of some insurance, it would serve as a motivator for them to volunteer their services.

Dr Tsiboe-Darko was speaking on the topic: ‘’The Dynamics of Volunteerism and Voluntary Work in Ghana: Can It Be Sustained? at a day’s workshop organized by the Institute of Statistical Social and Economic Research, for organizations involved in voluntary work.

He said volunteer work was deeply embedded in most cultures, that it had become hard to identify and quantify.

It is an activity defined broadly as non-profit, non-wage and made by individuals or organizations for the well-being of their neighbours, community or society at large.

Dr Tsiboe-Darko said a study carried out on scope, types and challenges of some volunteer work in Ghana, found differences in their scope and structures of the state and non-state organizations in volunteer work.

She said the study also found that funding played a major role as a motivator for organizations to engage the services of volunteers, although safety and security issues were also part.

She said there were a lot of lessons that could be learnt from international volunteer organisations like JICA and UN Volunteers, among others.

Dr Tsiboe appealed to Ghanaians to allow their wards in school to join girl guides and boy scouts where they could imbibe the spirit of volunteerism.

Mr Kodwo Morgan, Chairman of the National Planning Committee on National Volunteer Infrastructure, said a draft policy on volunteerism had been put in place, and sought to harmonize the work of volunteer organizations because as at now each organization worked with its set of roles without any policy direction.