Urgency of COVID-19 Volunteer Protection
Volunteers are one of the groups at risk of contracting humanitarian tasks during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Most of them are not equipped with protocols/guidelines for work protection and safety, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) that conforms to the standard; and social security accident or death while on duty.
Therefore, the government as well as the organizations that field volunteers are encouraged to provide social protection and security for COVID-19 volunteers. The urgency of protecting volunteers was raised at an online public discussion event “COVID-19 Volunteer Protection and Social Security: Whose Responsibilities?”, which was held by the Volunteer Protection Working Group (Pokja) in Jakarta, Tuesday morning (05/12/2020), by presenting Andre Rahadian ( Coordinator of the COVID-19 Handling National Task Force), Marsya Nurmaranti ( Director of Indorelawan ), Ahmad Fikri (Head of BAZNAS Distribution Division and Hamid Abidin (Director of The Associaton of Indonesia Philanthropy). This discussion was attended by philanthropic organizations, NGOs, academics and business people who paid attention to the development of volunteerism in Indonesia.
Nearly 30 thousands of volunteers, as of May 6, 2020, registered with the Volunteer Acceleration Handling Desk of COVID-19, including 7 thousand medical volunteers/health workers. Beyond this number, there are thousands of more volunteers who are managed and deployed by other organizations.
there is a health sector, there is a medical team aide who treats patients, hospital administration, Technology and Information (IT) and data entry, ambulance drivers, public kitchens and so on. While non-medical volunteers help prevention and protection through spraying disinfectants, distributing masks and hand sanitizers, providing hand washing equipment in public spaces, mentoring and education to distributing groceries to affected groups of residents.
Volunteer Protection Working Group is an initiative of several organizations concerned with volunteer protection, namely The Associaton of Indonesia Philanthropy (FI), Forum Zakat (FOZ), Amil Zakat National Agency (BAZNAS) , Indorelawan , Indonesian Humanitarian Forum (HFI), Indonesian Red Cross (PMI), Sekolah Relawan , Alumni SMA Jakarta Bersatu (ASJB), and Pujiono Center.
The Volunteer Protection Working Group made 3 attempts. First, encouraging providing PPE that is in accordance with standards by the management organization for volunteers in the medical field or who interact directly with the community; Second, the compilation of voluntary protection and safety protocols and guidelines; Third, promote and facilitate the provision of insurance and social security through multi-party cooperation and partnerships.
The volunteer work guidelines will be prepared in coordination with the COVID-19 Volunteer Desk. The results will be disseminated to various social organizations to be reduced to more specific guidelines or guidelines according to the field of work.
The Working Group conducts outreach, education and campaigns on the importance of social security for volunteers. Pokja also works with several insurance companies to develop various insurance schemes that are suitable for volunteers. For organizations that do not have adequate resources to provide social security for their volunteers, the Working Group will encourage and facilitate the promotion of public support and partnerships with the private sector.
If you want to know the speakers’ exposure during the event, you can get it here.