Beazley calls for Australian Peace Corps



"There's a strong streak of patriotism and idealism in young Australians that needs to be developed."

Beazley calls for Australian Peace Corps

Beazley calls for Australian Peace Corps

The Federal Opposition leader Kim Beazley says he is keen to establish an Australian version of the Peace Corps.

He says a Labor government would set up a Peace and Community Team to give young people an opportunity to make a contribution to society through volunteer work locally and overseas.

Mr Beazley says those participating would be eligible for HECS relief and TAFE scholarships.

"There's a strong streak of patriotism and idealism in young Australians that needs to be developed," he said.

"It needs to be put to the service of the community in a way in which we have not done before in this country - we want to do that now."

When this story was posted in January 2006, this was on the front page of PCOL:




Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers

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Top Stories: January 3, 2006 Tony Hall leaving ambassador's post 8 Dec Military aims to bolster language skills 2 Jan Isaiah Zagar rescuing Magic Garden 1 Jan Taylor Hackford won't produce J Lo in Carmen 31 Dec Rupert writes on militants' aid in Quake Zone 29 Dec Toledo bows on Military Human Rights Violations 29 Dec Tim Shriver supports movie "The Ringer" 26 Dec Josh Busby writes: How Healthy is the NPCA? 24 Dec Congressional Victory on Peace Corps/Military Option 22 Dec PC Fellows Nursing Program doubles at JHU 19 Dec PCVs team with Mexican scientists on water quality 17 Dec Farr denounces Pentagon spying at UCSC 17 Dec Jack Anderson dies at 83 17 Dec Theroux criticizes rock star badgering on Africa 15 Dec James Walsh opposes Maoist revolution in Nepal 15 Dec Scott Stossel appointed acting editor of "The Atlantic" 15 Dec Oklahoma has highest percentage increase in PCVs 15 Dec Sargent Shriver honored at JFK Library 13 Dec Blackwill says torture may be appropriate 13 Dec Bill Moyers for President? 13 Dec Kinky Friedman files papers to run for governor 8 Dec

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Military Option sparks concerns The U.S. military, struggling to fill its voluntary ranks, is allowing recruits to meet part of their reserve military obligations after active duty by serving in the Peace Corps. Read why there is opposition to the program among RPCVs. Director Vasquez says the agency has a long history of accepting qualified applicants who are in inactive military status. John Coyne says "Not only no, but hell no!" and RPCV Chris Matthews leads the debate on "Hardball." Avi Spiegel says Peace Corps is not the place for soldiers while Coleman McCarthy says to Welcome Soldiers to the Peace Corps. Read our poll results. Latest: Congress passed a bill on December 22 including language to remove Peace Corps from the National Call to Service (NCS) military recruitment program

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Why blurring the lines puts PCVs in danger When the National Call to Service legislation was amended to include Peace Corps in December of 2002, this country had not yet invaded Iraq and was not in prolonged military engagement in the Middle East, as it is now. Read the story of how one volunteer spent three years in captivity from 1976 to 1980 as the hostage of a insurrection group in Colombia in Joanne Marie Roll's op-ed on why this legislation may put soldier/PCVs in the same kind of danger. Latest: Read the ongoing dialog on the subject.

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PC establishes awards for top Volunteers Gaddi H. Vasquez has established the Kennedy Service Awards to honor the hard work and service of two current Peace Corps Volunteers, two returned Peace Corps Volunteers, and two Peace Corps staff members. The award to currently serving volunteers will be based on a demonstration of impact, sustainability, creativity, and catalytic effect. Submit your nominations by December 9.

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Robert F. Kennedy - 80th anniversary of his birth "Few men are willing to brave the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of their colleagues, the wrath of their society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital quality for those who seek to change the world which yields most painfully to change."

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Peace Corps at highest Census in 30 years Congratulations to the Peace Corps for the highest number of volunteers in 30 years with 7,810 volunteers serving in 71 posts across the globe. Of course, the President's proposal to double the Peace Corps to 15,000 volunteers made in his State of the Union Address in 2002 is now a long forgotten dream. With deficits in federal spending stretching far off into the future, any substantive increase in the number of volunteers will have to wait for new approaches to funding and for a new administration. Choose your candidate and start working for him or her now.

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'Celebration of Service' a major success The Peace Corps Fund's 'Celebration of Service' on September 29 in New York City was a major success raising approximately $100,000 for third goal activities. In the photo are Maureen Orth (Colombia); John Coyne (Ethiopia) Co-founder of the Peace Corps Fund; Caroline Kennedy; Barbara Anne Ferris (Morocco) Co-founder; Former Senator Harris Wofford, member of the Advisory Board. Read the story here.

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PC apologizes for the "Kasama incident" The District Commissioner for the Kasama District in Zambia issued a statement banning Peace Corps activities for ‘grave’ social misconduct and unruly behavior for an incident that occurred on September 24 involving 13 PCVs. Peace Corps said that some of the information put out about the incident was "inflammatory and false." On October 12, Country Director Davy Morris met with community leaders and apologized for the incident. All PCVs involved have been reprimanded, three are returning home, and a ban in the district has since been lifted.

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The Peace Corps Library Peace Corps Online is proud to announce that the Peace Corps Library is now available online. With over 30,000 index entries in 500 categories, this is the largest collection of Peace Corps related stories in the world. From Acting to Zucchini, you can find hundreds of stories about what RPCVs with your same interests or from your Country of Service are doing today. If you have a web site, support the "Peace Corps Library" and link to it today.

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Friends of the Peace Corps 170,000 strong 170,000 is a very special number for the RPCV community - it's the number of Volunteers who have served in the Peace Corps since 1961. It's also a number that is very special to us because March is the first month since our founding in January, 2001 that our readership has exceeded 170,000. And while we know that not everyone who comes to this site is an RPCV, they are all "Friends of the Peace Corps." Thanks everybody for making PCOL your source of news for the Returned Volunteer community.

Read the stories and leave your comments.

By RPCV (ppp-70-243-81-155.dsl.austtx.swbell.net - 70.243.81.155) on Thursday, February 02, 2006 - 2:08 pm: Edit Post

Australia has governmetn supported volunteer service programs already ... Following is an excerpt from www.ausaid.gov:

Volunteer Organisations supported by the Australian Government:

While AusAID is unable to directly assist people interested in volunteer work placements, we do encourage those interested to contact the following organisations for further information on how to make a contribution as a volunteer.

Youth Ambassadors for Development
One of the Australian Government's most popular initiatives is the Australian Youth Ambassadors for Development volunteer program for young Australians aged 18-30.

Each year around 230 young people travel to developing countries in our region to work for up to a year on programs designed to tackle poverty through the transfer of Australian expertise.

Priority sectors for the AYAD program are health, education, governance, rural development, environment and infrastructure.

Contact:
1/41 Dequetteville Terrace
Kent Town
ADELAIDE SA 5067
Freecall: 1800 225 592
Telephone: (08) 8331 8900
Fax: (08) 8331 8944
e-mail: ayad@austraining.com.au
www.ausaid.gov.au/youtham

For further information see Australian Youth Ambassadors for Development on this website


Australian Business Volunteers
Australian Business Volunteers' approach to poverty reduction and sustainable growth is to strengthening the private sector which is seen as the engine of development.

Volunteers with ABV are mature, qualified and experienced Australians who possess skills in a wide variety of fields. They are professionals, business and trades people.

Through sharing their work skills and sound governance practices, ABV volunteers help build capacity and sustainability of micro, small and medium-sized businesses.

Each year ABV undertakes between 200 and 300 short-term assignments (1 - 3 months). ABV has a continuous volunteer recruitment and dispatch procedure enabling rapid response to clients' needs.

Pacific - Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Vanuatu

Asia -Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Philippines, Thailand (regional assignments only), Vietnam

Contact:
FECCA House
4 Phipps Close Deakin ACT 2600
Telephone: (02) 6285 1686
Fax: (02) 6285 1424
e-mail: info@abv.org.au
www.abv.org.au

Australian Volunteers International
Australian Volunteers International (AVI) recruits, prepares and supports Australian volunteers who live and work in developing communities. As an international volunteer sending agency supported by AusAID, AVI and its volunteers are committed to achieving long term development, poverty alleviation and sustainable livelihoods.

AVI works with partner organisations in host communities to ensure that placements respond to locally-identified needs. Volunteers are skilled professionals from the education, health, community development, finance, IT, communications, rural development, trade and engineering sectors.

AVI provides short and long-term volunteer placements in Asia, the Pacific, Africa and the Middle East.

Pacific - Fiji, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu

Asia -Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Mongolia, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand (regional assignments only), Vietnam

Africa & Middle East - Afghanistan, Lebanon (Palestinian refugees), Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Palestinian Territories, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Contact:
71 Argyle Street
Fitzroy VIC 3065
Freecall: 1800 331 292
Telephone (03) 9279 1788
Fax: (03) 9419 4280
e-mail: info@australianvolunteers.com
www.australianvolunteers.com


Volunteering for International Development from Australia
Volunteering for International Development from Australia (VIDA) is a program that enables Australian citizens and permanent residents aged 18 and over to undertake volunteer assignments in Asia and the Pacific to make a tangible contribution to sustainable development in host countries.

The program provides pre-departure training, in-country support and post-return debriefing to volunteers undertaking development assignments lasting between 1 and 36 months.

As part of the Australian Government's overseas volunteer and international aid programs, VIDA, in cooperation with partner organisations, aims to assist developing countries to reduce poverty and achieve sustainable development through skills transfer, institutional strengthening and capacity building.

Pacific - Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu

Asia - Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Mongolia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand (regional assignments only), Vietnam

Contact
1/41 Dequetteville Terrace
Kent Town
ADELAIDE SA 5067
Freecall: 1800 995 536
Telephone: (08) 8331 8900
Fax: (08) 8331 8944
e-mail: info@vidavolunteers.com.au
www.vidavolunteers.com.au

* Countries to which volunteers are sent change according to Government priorities.

See also:

Volunteers and Australian Development Cooperation [PDF file - 260KB]
Australian Government policy statement describing the principles guiding Government support for volunteers placed overseas.
Aid Close Up - Stories and People