Singapore International Foundation : "Partner for Good"

http://www.sif.org.sg/en/what-we-do/partner-for-good.html

There are countless communities needing support.

There are numerous organisations in search of

such communities.

All it takes is a partnership.

And barriers find balance;

Benevolence becomes breakthroughs;

The Singapore International Foundation makes

such partnerships possible.

All we need is a partner like you.

A Partner for Good.

One of SIF’s key functions is to promote international volunteerism. Through this, we help develop individuals and organisations into socially-responsible global citizens while contributing to the growth of overseas communities.

Our partners can choose how they want to support sustainable development projects in overseas communities – either through volunteerism, funding or both.

Why Partner Us?

There are many organisations today – too many to count – with impressive community projects. Their social responsibility records speak well of their corporate philosophy, garnering for themselves the trust and respect of stakeholders and a competitive advantage in the markets they serve.

As Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) gains momentum across Asia and triple bottom-line reporting becomes the norm, more and more organisations want to be in the same position – seeking reliable partners to fulfill their social development responsibilities.

SIF is that partner – connecting you to projects overseas that are aligned to your corporate philosophy. We provide a platform for philanthropic contributions and staff development. Your involvement can change the lives of people in developing communities while forging a stronger corporate identity and promoting staff development through volunteerism.

Projects that need Partners
SIF’s projects benefit a multitude of people in disadvantaged communities by leveraging on Singapore’s areas of excellence.

Some examples:

EDUCATION: Bring computer & English literacy to rural communities, establish informal Education Centres for village children to have access to education; operate a mobile library; impart life skills & entrepreneurial knowledge to street youth; uplift the standard of special needs education; and more.

HEALTHCARE: Transfer knowledge and skills in health-related disciplines such as physiotherapy, palliative care, surgery, cardiac intensive care; set up a “mother & child clinic” to reduce infant mortality rate, etc.
Community Development & Social Enterprise
Empower a community with the abilities to bring improvements and effect changes to their standard of living, e.g. offer skills training, provide resources and organise systems to help a village establish a livelihood project to generate income.

Social Welfare
Provide support for public education on AIDS; protect women and children against human-trafficking & abuse; transfer knowledge and skills for the rehabilitation of drug addicts, etc.

Environmental Science
Provide clean drinkable water & sanitation facilities to villages plagued by water-borne diseases; offer solar energy lighting to remote villages without electricity; preserve the biodiversity of habitats, etc.

Partner Us for Good
We invite corporations and community partners to support such life-transforming projects, by providing funds; extending staff expertise or core business competencies; and contribute resources, to benefit disadvantaged communities overseas.
Be it ad hoc, short or long-term community involvement, SIF is the platform to help you translate your organisation’s values into viable programmes that benefit both humanity and your organisation. Be our “Partner for Good”. Today. If you have a corporate CSR vision you are looking to fulfi ll, or simply wish to explore partnership possibilities, we welcome you to contact us:

Contact us to “Partner for Good”
Mr Aaron Ng
Director
International Volunteerism & Community Partnerships
Tel: 6837 8700 Fax: 6837 8710
Email: aaron.ng@sif.org.sg

Singapore Volunteers Ovserseas Networking Forum

The Singapore International Foundation (SIF) will be celebrating International Volunteer Day 2008 (5 December) by hosting a Singapore Volunteers Overseas Networking Forum just for you, our valued volunteers and partners.

Lined up are speakers from internationally recognised volunteer groups including SIF, as well as a sharing session by a veteran SIF volunteer. Learn about developments in international volunteering and community development work across Asia.

Do join us to celebrate International Volunteer Day and connect with other like-minded volunteers.

Date: 5 December 2008 (Friday)
Time: 6.15pm – 9.00pm
Venue: Singapore International Foundation Office(9 Bishan Place, Level 9, Junction 8)
Attire: Smart casual
Registration Fee: FREE (inclusive of dinner)
Who should attend:
- SIF volunteers (past and present)
- VWO / NPO staff and volunteers who have a keen interest in international volunteerism
- Companies / Community Organisations who are seeking to conduct CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) related projects overseas

http://www.sif.org.sg/en/news/news-details/article/1/living-sha.html

Breakfast with a soul - 11 Oct 2008

Early Saturday morning, a group of 35 people gathered at Sun Asian Bistro, NUS to have a meaningful breakfast with a soul. They were treated to nice food as well as inspiring sharings from 3 very different people, Ms Sharon Low, a humantarian worker, Ms Dale Edmonds, from http://www.riverkidsproject.org/ and Ms Wee Shu Ting, from http://www.adevelopedworld.com/

Breakfast with a Soul - 11 Oct 2008

Due to overwhelming responses, the breakfast has been fully subscribed. For those who are keen and hope to attend the next breakfast, you can drop us an email enquiries.iva@gmail.com to be put on our mailing list.

Inaugural Forum on International Volunteerism 5 July 2008

Press Releases

Setting New Milestones for the Local International Volunteerism Scene

Senior Parliamentary Secretary Mr Teo Ser Luck Opens Inaugural Forum on International Volunteerism and Announces Formation of the International Volunteerism Association to Promote Best Practices and Minimum Standards

Singapore, 5 July 2008 – Singaporeans looking at venturing overseas for a meaningful cause will find it easier to gather information and resources to carry out their community work. Existing and potential International Volunteerism (IV) practitioners can soon draw on the vast spectrum of experiences and knowledge that will be made available by the newly established International Volunteerism Association (IVA).

Launched by Mr Teo Ser Luck, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Community Development, Youth & Sports, and Transport as well as Chairman of the National Youth Council (NYC) and the Youth Expedition Project (YEP) Advisory Panel at the Rendezvous Hotel this morning, IVA is a not-for-profit social enterprise registered with the Singapore Registry of Societies that aims to be a platform for IV practitioners in Singapore to share with each other their experiences, resources and information.

IVA will also promote best practices and minimum standards for volunteering overseas.IV practitioners can tap on IVA for training requirements; needs and risk assessment; social community learning; project evaluation service; consultancy services as well as the engagement of overseas partnership. Agencies focused on a specialised audience could even seek IVA’s assistance to help in conceptualising, implementing and evaluating customised programmes for them.

The IVA was initiated by a group of passionate IV practitioners with strong beliefs in their mission and awareness that it is important for good IV practices to pave the way to meet the rapid growth of IV sector in Singapore; as well as to inspire and encourage more IV practitioners.Senior Parliamentary Secretary Mr Teo Ser Luck applauded the establishment of the IVA as a timely initiative by the practitioners. He noted the growing number of Singaporeans who travel overseas to support a cause and also the growth of Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) in the local IV scene.

“With the growing interest in International Volunteerism in Singapore, there is a strategic need and urgency to encourage more practitioners in the IV community to come forward to share with others their experiences, resources and best practices within the sector. IVA is able to provide the common pool of knowledge and resources, promote ideal practices and frameworks for International Volunteerism, as well as play an advisory role for new practitioners to minimise risks and errors when embarking on their journey of volunteering.

The formation of IVA is a positive development in line with the National Youth Council’s (NYC) efforts to develop a vibrant, highly connected and self-sustaining youth sector. With practitioners of the Youth Expedition Project (under the portfolio of NYC) forming a segment of the IVA’s network, NYC will work closely with IVA to further develop the IV sector together,” said Mr Teo Ser Luck.“The IVA is a necessary platform for IV practitioners to network locally and internationally. Agencies and IV groups can now tap on the seasoned practitioners’ vast experience for additional support when carrying out quality community service projects and better serve the needy communities overseas.

With this establishment, I hope that the Singapore IV sector will grow to be more responsible and professional when we carry out our community services overseas,” said Dr Chan Yew Wing, Chairman, International Volunteerism Association.

This morning also marked the opening of the inaugural forum on International Volunteerism organised by the IVA and the National Youth Council. For the first time, professionals, stakeholders and practitioners of International Volunteerism and International Service Learning (ISL) came together to discuss the challenges facing international volunteers today. More than 120 practitioners turned up to partake in the networking and sharing session that will make an impact in the international volunteerism sector. Attendees just to name some included seasoned volunteer groups such as Mercy Relief, Raleigh Society, Singapore International Foundation, YMCA of Singapore, Singapore Red Cross Society, Ngee Ann Polytechnic, The Choice Initiative, Youth Executive Committee- People’s Association as well as new start ups such as Books to Read.

Adding a new dimension to the forum were interactive panel discussions where attendees were divided into Youth Organisations, Organisation Heads, NGOs and Community Service Entrepreneurs to address three main issues of Partnership, Project Management and Volunteer Management.

Dr Fatimah Binte Abdul Lateef, Member of Parliament, Marine Parade GRC was the keynote speaker for the forum. An active International Volunteer, Dr Fatimah shared her recent efforts in Myanmar disaster and how Singaporeans could help to play a part during the reconstruction phase. Findings and strategies formulated at the forum will be released at the end of the year by IVA.

Hi everyone,

Today we are seeing more volunteers venturing out of Singapore doing various form of overseas community service project with the intention of wanting to make a difference in another's life. For organisations involved in International Volunteerism (IV) projects to sustain its effort for a long haul, it depends not only on the mere size of its volunteer pool, but also how volunteers are developed. Different organisations have different means to develop their volunteers based on the organisations beliefs, values and purpose, reflecting the diverse ways they generate their activities.

As every organisation has our own strengths, there is much to learn from one another and even more to share, as each other's efforts are synergistically leveraged upon. While there is no common model of volunteering that works for every organisation, there are however common trends that various organisations can come together to strengthen.

Amongst IV practitioners, there are huge amounts of resources, information and experiences that are worth archiving for sharing and serving as reference for future development. International Volunteerism Association (IVA) targets to get all practitioners to share these valuables resources and be the central repository for all IV practitioners as a continual process of knowledge management.

IVA is in a process of embarking on a research project to understand Singapore's IV sector better. This is the first phase of our study to collate essential data for us to identify and study useful trends. Pls click (or cut and paste): http://www.surveygizmo.com/s/59511/iv-in-sgp

This survey is important to IVA's effort to understand the sector better. This is crucial in building the IV's sector future. It will only take 7 minutes of your time. We hope to receive as many responses as possible by 31 August 2008. Pls help us to forward to as many organisations as possible who are engaged in IV in Singapore. We hope to cover as many organisations and as many sectors as possible, i.e. educational institutes, faith-based organisations, non profit organisations, for profit organisations, companies etc.

I look forward to your support to develop inspired and committed IV practitioners with IVA. Thank you.

Your Sincerely,
Dr Chan Yew Wing
Chairman
International Volunteerism Association

A humble beginning..

From:
Sent: Wed 16/07/2008 3:30 PM
Registration of A Society - Notification of Registration

This is to inform that the following society has been officially register on.
ROS Reference Number: 2077/2008
Society Name: International Volunteerism Association