Mentoring Across Borders (MAB) partners Senior Experten Service (SES) participated in the citizens’ festival for United Nations Day on the 21st of October 2023 in Bonn. Traditionally, the city celebrates the United Nations (UN) Day to bring the organisation which has a campus for 18 UN organisations in Bonn closer to the people.
The focus of the community festival is the UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals with the motto: “Leaving no one behind”. SES took the opportunity to show to visitors how they are making sure through their mentoring activities that no one is left behind.
Julia Haun, press officer for SES, was in active contact with many interested parties at the stand. She explained to them that SES is the largest German volunteer organization and has been based in Bonn since it was founded in 1983. “We started with our work in developing and emerging countries. Our focus is now also in Germany.”
The organization has made it its mission to use the expertise of retired people for its operations. “The basic idea was that when professionals retire, they don't just take their knowledge with them into retirement, but can also pass it on to the world. It also makes older people happy to know that they are still needed.” The register currently includes around 13,000 experts from Germany who pass on their knowledge on a voluntary basis – some of whom will also participate as mentors in MAB.
