The Role of Volunteers in Asian Socio-Economic Development

Abstract It seems to be commonly accepted that volunteer service per se adds a human aspect, a human touch to development efforts. Many idealistic people have over the past century involved themselves in problem areas, with the poor, the disabled, the juvenile offenders, the orphans, the foreign workers. Much volunteer work took place in connection with problems generated by the Industrial Revolution. In the second half of the 19th century, voluntary organizations e.g., concerned themselves with human housing conditions for the labour force in industry; around 1880, a first settlement for foreign workers was built in Germany; at about the same time, in Paris, Berlin and Petersborough the first homes for the blind were opened. Voluntary organizations and volunteer workers developed programmes which laid the foundation for labour laws and for social welfare policy in Europe and North America.