follows Tintin and Hergé's footsteps around the countryside surrounding Marlinspike Hall in reality the region of Walloon Brabant in Belgium By creating your account, you accept the terms and conditions from Tintin.com You accept to receive from Tintin.com personalized notifications related to Tintin (new events or exhibitions You will be able to set your preferences in your account Tintin.com uses cookies to improve your experience on the site, to analyse its use and for marketing purposes. For more information, please consult the Privacy Policy The United Nations Department of Global Communications (DGC) promotes global awareness and understanding of the work of the United Nations through its network of United Nations Information Centres (UNICs) around the world. The UN Regional Information Centre (UNRIC) in Brussels engages with local audiences in 21 countries as well as the Holy Sea and European institutions volunteers have demonstrated an exceptional display of solidarity across the world Responding to calls for help from their local communities “Volunteers have been assisting vulnerable groups providing essential services to the elderly and supporting front-line health workers,” said United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on the occasion of International Volunteer Day on 5 December A wave of solidarity has spread across Europe where platform Tous Bénévoles (All Volunteers) witnessed a doubling in those registering in 2020 volunteers responded to various needs: from helping the elderly school children as well as organzing food banks “It is one of the few positive effects of Covid-19,” says Isabelle Persoz "More and more young people are signing up and sticking to volunteering," she adds The International Committee of the Red Cross confirms the rise in numbers with hundreds of thousands of new volunteers across the world including 48,000 new sign-ups in the Netherlands and 60,000 in Italy “We are unable to respond [to all] the external volunteer offers we receive,” says Natacha Dewitte Assistant Director in Human Resources at the Red Cross in French speaking Belgium the Red Cross has been able to maintain its relief and social efforts and support the triage of patients in front of hospitals and test centres The organisation even received an unprecedented offer from a cinema production and casting company which helped install a food distribution hub Volunteers who have been stepping up to help during the pandemic have been a beacon of selflessness and optimism has been a field volunteer for the Red Cross in Belgium since March 2019 she did not hesitate for one moment to give a helping hand to hospitals “I felt it was important to give my time,” she tells UNRIC but now we are forced to keep our distance to protect both them and us.” volunteers in a test centre for asymptomatic patients at Ghent University Hospital “You feel good knowing you are contributing to the fight against the pandemic I am also learning new things at the same time,” she says “Volunteers bring enormous extra value to society at a very low cost,” says Joost van Alkemade Director and Community Manager of the Association of Dutch Voluntary Organisations (NOV) The pandemic has nonetheless also had the opposite effect: some senior citizens have been denied the chance of helping in the field over concerns for their health Red Cross France subsequently lost 11,000 volunteers aged over 60 in one day it is difficult not to be there in person because volunteering is a way to regain some social contact,” regrets Isabelle Persoz President of the Red Cross centre in La Louvière which distributes emergency packages and provides urgent food supplies was overwhelmed at the start of the pandemic the number of urgent requests for food aid exploded increasing by 200-300% in just a few months,” says Miceli who has not been daunted by fatigue or the virus With the continuing economic fallout from the crisis the need for volunteers will not disappear anticipate a huge increase in demand for food aid The first thing you need is goodwill: every act is valuable,” concludes Isabelle Persoz we're not doing this work to make ourselves feel better That sort of conventional notion of what a do-gooder is We're doing this work because we are totally convinced that it's not necessary in today's wealthy world for so many people to be experiencing discomfort for so many people to be experiencing hardship for so many people to have their lives and their livelihoods imperiled.” David Nabarro has dedicated his life to global health After a long career that’s taken him from the horrors of war torn Iraq to the devastating aftermath of the Indian Ocean tsunami he is still spurred to action by the tremendous inequalities in global access to medical care “The thing that keeps me awake most at night is the rampant inequities in our world…We see an awful lot of needless suffering.” returns to the stage after a long absence during the COVID-19 pandemic It counts 250 children and teenagers from the favela as its performers The ballet group provides social support in a community where poverty hunger and teen pregnancy are constant issues The pandemic has put many people to the test Coronavirus has waged war not only against people's lives and well-being but has also spawned countless hoaxes and scientific falsehoods Tintin.com uses cookies to improve your experience on the site, to analyse its use and for marketing purposes. 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