GROUP 2MEASURES FOR ENHANCING AND PROMOTING VOLUNTEERPARTICIPATION IN COOPERATION WITH GOVERNMENTS(AND JUDICIARIES) INVOLVED IN COMMUNITY-BASEDTREATMENT OF OFFENDERS
Chairperson
Co-Chairperson
Rapporteur
Co-Rapporteurs
Members

AdviserMr. Marcus Rito
Ms. Miyuki Shiina
Mr. Paul Wagun
Ms. Mariko Oguni
Mr. Kennedy Achungo
Mr. Rodrigo Manuel Jr.
Mr. Mohammed Rabiul
Mr. Jean Claude Sam
Mr. Nor Haizan
Ms. Bulgan Dolgorsuren
Mr. Santi Rittirat
Mr. Hiroshi Fujikawa
Mr. Yasuhiro Muraki
Prof. Fumiko Akashi(Brazil)(Japan)(Papua New Guinea)(Japan)(Kenya)(Philippines)(Bangladesh)(Cote d’Ivoire)(Malaysia)(Mongolia)(Thailand)(Japan)(Japan)(UNAFEI)

I. INTRODUCTION
On 26 January 2015, Group Two commenced its workshop. The Group elected, by consensus, Mr.
Marcus Rito as the Chairperson, Ms. Miyuki Shiina as its co-chairperson, Mr. Paul Wagun as its Rapporteur, and Ms. Mariko Oguni, Mr. Kennedy Achungo and Mr. Rodrigo Manuel, Jr. as co-Rapporteurs.
The group was assigned to discuss the theme of: “Measures for Enhancing and Promoting Volunteer
Participation in Cooperation with Governments (and Judiciaries) Involved in Community-Based Treatmentof Offenders”.
The term “Volunteer” as a general concept needed to be redefined as to how it applied specificallywithin the context of “Community-based Treatment of Offenders” before discussions could be commenced;
hence, the definition of a volunteer in that context was defined by the group as: “A person or organization
with particular life skills and experiences who is willing to contribute his/her/its skills, experiences, timeand resources for community-based treatment of offenders without remuneration”.
The key concepts of volunteerism are: 1. Willingness 2. Altruism 3. Without remuneration.
A. Why Do We Need Volunteers?
Volunteer participation has distinct advantages, as follows:
1. Local Character
Since volunteers and offenders live in the same community, offenders can contact volunteers immediately. Also, since volunteers are rooted in the community, and know the community well, they can provide
the offender with social resources and useful information. Moreover, since the participating countries havevarious languages, cultures, religions, etc., volunteers play a key role in bridging the gap between offenders
and the community.
2. Non-Governmental Officials
Despite the fact that volunteers are not paid, they work with offenders because they seek offender rehabilitation and safe communities. Such sincere concern and personal interaction are effective for offender
rehabilitation.

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Ex-offenders also can be volunteers. For example, in Cote d’Ivoire, ex-offenders work with inmates on
prison farms. In Japan, ex-drug offenders assist with drug-offender treatment. Peer support has great
influence for offenders because they understand deeply offenders’ situations, feelings and challenges.
3. Continuity of Activities
Since volunteers live in the same community with offenders, even after the expiration of the supervision period, private relationships between offenders and VPOs may continue among them as citizens livingin the same community. Japanese VPOs said some offenders came to see VPOs to tell them about
offenders’ marriages or their children.
4. Volunteer-State Partnerships
Lack of correctional treatment and intervention for offenders released on non-custodial sentences often
means that such offenders are neither fully rehabilitated nor re-integrated into mainstream society. Volunteer-State partnerships are therefore crucial to address the following:⿟⿟ Constraints in terms of inadequate funding and human resources.
⿟⿟ To involve the community in the rehabilitation of offenders, notably the family, clan, churches andvillages.
⿟⿟ To provide a forum of public awareness on community-based treatment of offenders.
⿟⿟ To initiate entry points into network relationships with opinion leaders and other service
providers in the community.
B. Objectives
To establish, organize and enhance public participation in crime prevention and community based-treatment of offenders.

II. SUMMARY OF THE DISCUSSIONS
A. Recruitment and Appointment of Volunteers
1. Recruitment
It is important to recruit mature, credible and dependable volunteers with key life skills and experiences who will impart value to the rehabilitation process of the ex-offender. In this context, it is important tohave a proper appointment procedure and specified criteria of recruitment of volunteers readily on handfor lay persons to utilize even if it is specified in any subsidiary legislation or regulation.
The best source of quality volunteer identification information is from the experienced volunteers andthe key stakeholders (judiciary, police, corrections officers, and probation officers) in the criminal justicesystem.
In most cases volunteers who have been involved with ex-offenders within their communities will know
from their own interactive experience within the community who would be a potential candidate for recruitment from within the community.
2. Appointment
Once recruitment candidates are identified and screened, appointment of such persons as volunteers
will have to be done in accordance with the Act or empowering legislation; hence the concerned volunteer
is a legitimately recognized volunteer practitioner within the community in the field of offender rehabilitation.
B. Capacity Building/Training and Morale Development of Volunteers
The following proposals are necessary to achieve the above concerns.
1. Basic orientation training is required to be given to volunteers.

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2. The Government needs to fund periodic professional training for volunteers throughout the courseof their involvement.
3. Volunteers with other stakeholders (judiciary, police, corrections, and probation officers) of thecriminal justice system need to hold case conferences to identify capacity and training needs, andalso incentives to boost morale of volunteers.
4. Pre-existing orientation training established by volunteers and probation services exists in somecountries so it should be the first to be utilized in training of volunteers.
5. In terms of incentives, ways to boost the morale of volunteers are: awards, thank you parties andtheme-based seminars to coincide with awareness and identity cards, field visits and participation innational events, certificates of authority to act lawfully in communities. These are some methods
that can be applied as incentive programmes.
6. Medicare insurance, public insurance, food vouchers and cost reimbursements are some ways toboost the morale of volunteers.
7. Respecting the confidentiality of the relevant parties relating to the personal affairs which the volunteers have come to know in the course of their duties.
C. Resources/Funding/Organization of Volunteers
The funding and resourcing of volunteers must first and foremost be a government subsidy to begin
with and all other efforts and endeavors to secure resources and funding must also be pursued. Some
examples are as follows:
1. Private sector corporations, community awareness events by volunteers and other stakeholders,membership with established volunteer organizations, government tax credit schemes withcorporate firms to support such activities, involve active youth and women groups such as in Japanthe Big Brothers and Sisters Association, Women’s Association for Rehabilitation Aid and theJapanese University Students’ Awareness on Peer Dynamics with juveniles.
2. Volunteers must also have ready access to professional assistance at any time from Probation
Officers and government judicial officers to confide their problems and needs.
3. The community is a sleeping giant in terms of resourcing for volunteers. It is important to properlyorganize in order to tap into the resources of the community and its participation.
4. Other government resource organizations also exist such as ministries or departments of education,
labour, welfare, health and tourism, and also building relationships and making connections with thecommunity and service corporations should be a key drive to secure support in terms of resourcing
and funding.
5. In terms of organization of volunteers, there should be affiliations with existing volunteer organizations. Close dialogue with colleague volunteers and government justice institutions such as the policeand corrections is important as these organizations are always open to providing meeting places
and other relevant facilities and also to assign some members to participate in assisting volunteers.
6. Volunteers from the local community should be organized at the regional and national levels toenable wider participation, such as in Japan where they have national, prefectural, regional anddistrict levels of volunteer organizations.
D. Welfare and Safety of Volunteers
Volunteers perform an important role in the delivery of offender rehabilitation services to thecommunity as an extended service arm of the government under the criminal justice system.
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tive arm of government, particularly the Ministry of Justice, must give recognition to the safety andwelfare aspects of volunteers.
Volunteer welfare and safety should be covered by the government’s compensation insurance scheme;
therefore, the volunteers should be provided with medical care insurance.
The department or government ministry responsible for the recruitment, training and placement of volunteers must take responsible steps to ensure that volunteers’ safety and welfare needs are properly
provided for during the course of their voluntary services to the state.
The welfare and safety of volunteers should also be ensured to allow them to carry out their duties effectively, and measures should be considered including financial and psychological burdens on volunteers.
E. Community Resources/Public Understanding and Cooperation
The community has the potential to contribute to volunteer services but this has not been adequately
tapped. It is important to properly organize to tap into the resources of the community and its participation.
Volunteers should also take advantage of other unexploited resources such as those in the education,
labour, health, welfare and tourism sectors; also building relationships and making connections with thecommunity and service corporations should be a key drive to secure support in terms of resourcing andfunding.
Before going out to seek community resource support, the volunteers must themselves be organizedlegally into associations and must be properly recognized to seek such assistance. Not only does it help thevolunteer cause but it gives structure and publically perceived confidence to the work of volunteers interms of accountability and reporting.
Public awareness must be funded by government funds to bring the awareness to the communities andthe public prior to seeking assistance so the community and public corporations will be aware and supportive.
Note: The Act and subsidiary legislation on the volunteer programme should provide detailed guidelines on operations and good practices for the volunteer programme in any country or state.

III. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
A. Conclusion
Crime is born in the community, and as a good citizen, it is a social obligation and responsibility tosafeguard the peace and order of the respective societies. It is therefore critical to ensure that the full
criminal justice systems of respective societies are geared toward community-based approaches to offenderrehabilitation and re-integration back into the communities.
The community, being part and parcel of the criminal justice system, is a potential human resource formaintaining peaceful societies. Moreover, the community is the only vehicle for the re-integration and community-based treatment of our penitent offenders into the main stream of society.
The increase in criminal acts continues to be a concern of many countries. Correctional institutions areovercrowded and too often provide inhumane living conditions; they consume human resources, fundingand result in poor investments on the part of many governments.
Volunteer participation is indispensable for offender rehabilitation, not only because of financial burden
and the shortage of human resources, but because of its advantages such as local character, non-governmental officials and continuity of activities.

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B. Recommendations
1. Each country or state should develop an Act or empowering legislation for the volunteer
programme.
2. Recruitment of mature, credible and dependable persons with life skills and experience as volunteers. Therefore ex-offenders who have successfully completed their rehabilitation therapy fulfill thecriteria of being recruited as volunteers as it is practiced in Cote d’Ivoire where an NGO has
recruited ex-offenders in a team to implement the prison farm project of Saliakro.
3. Training for volunteers should be provided by the government periodically, and the volunteers
together with the stakeholders should hold case conferences from time to time whenever necessary.
4. Governments should support volunteers so that they can work with motivation (welfare and safety,
financial support, psychological support and commendation).
5. Promotion of government tax credit schemes with corporate firms to support volunteer programmes.
6. Develop and implement an international programme for monitoring and evaluation of volunteer programmes to raise standards to best practice expectations.
7. Creation of an international platform for volunteer exchange, benchmarking and exposure.
8. Enhance networking, collaboration and partnership among stakeholders (judiciary, police, correctional services and probation services) in the criminal justice system.
9. Develop a standardized international volunteer programme document and disseminate internationally.

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