PUTRAJAYA: The Ministry of National Unity has approved an allocation of RM2.1 million for the implementation of MADANI Berkhidmat: Misi Sukarelawan Siswa in Sabah, Sarawak, Pahang, Perak and Vietnam as well as other volunteer programmes, this year.

Minister of National Unity Datuk Aaron Ago Dagang said the matter was decided at the 13th Annual General Meeting of the Student Volunteers Foundation (YSS), here, which also discussed various agendas, including the achievements of YSS last year and the direction for this year.

Aaron said YSS was asked to examine the need to create a comprehensive volunteering policy or action plan as a national guiding framework in strengthening the volunteer movement in a more structured manner, involving all government agencies in voluntary work.

“YSS needs to play a proactive role as a government agency. The implementation of the programme must be focused and attention must be given to Misi Sukarelawan Siswa, Tuisyen KAMI, Ejen Perpaduan and the student volunteer leadership development programmes,“ he said in a statement today after chairing the meeting.

To date, YSS has produced 2,153 student volunteer leaders who have successfully implemented 9,665 community projects nationwide.

He also said the meeting decided that ‘Program Ini Warisan Kita: Misi Sukarelawan Siswa’ be rebranded as ‘MADANI Berkhidmat Sukarelawan Siswa’.

The meeting was also announced YSS’s achievements throughout the past year, including the implementation of five student volunteer missions in 20 locations in Vietnam, Sabah, Sarawak, Kedah and Kelantan; as well as the implementation of 735 community projects with 4,539 volunteer hours in the field which benefited 146,211 people in various local communities.