Operation Day's Work is a charity program based on volunteering by high school students in Sweden to honor the former Secretary-General of the United Nations, Dag Hammarskjöld [1].
The concept is for the schools to allow the students to leave their high school and work for a single day. The pay for this day of work goes to whatever charity the organization behind the national committee decides. Originally it was called "A Day for Dag".
Today there are Operation Day's Work committees in several countries. The committee in Denmark has helped spreading this type of volunteering to the Netherlands and Italy [2].
The project has been criticised for having excessive administrative costs, a poor choice of collaborators, the support of controversial politicians and the support of organizations connected to terrorism.[3]
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The national committee was formally founded in 1984.[4]
Instructions from the department of Education specifically state that no student can be forced to take part. The pay for their work goes to a (sometimes controversial)[3] chosen project in a third world country. Only a minor fraction of Danish students participate in this event, mainly because most Danish people see supporting third world countries as something the population has already paid for in taxes. As a result, most students stay in school.[5] Due to a recent agreement with the Danish Ministry of Education the students are no longer considered to be truant during this day.[6] The present Prime Minister of Denmark, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, created an alternative to Operation Day's work called "Operation School Work" when he was chairman of a youth organization in 1988. As a result, some people suggested he should be accused of murder. [7]
| Year | Country supported | Year | Country supported | Year | Country supported |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Tanzania | 1996 | Ladakh | 2004 | Nicaragua, Honduras og Guatemala |
| 1986 | Nicaragua | 1997 | Guatemala | 2005 | Kirgisistan |
| 1988 | Namibia | 1998 | Palæstina | 2006 | South Africa |
| 1990 | Eritrea | 1999 | South Sudan | 2007 | Bolivia |
| 1991 | Brazil | 2000 | Romani people | 2008 | Niger |
| 1992 | Somalia | 2001 | Mexico | 2009 | Zimbabwe [8] |
| 1994 | Ecuador | 2002 | Nepal | 2010 | Burma |
| 1995 | Mozambique | 2003 | Cambodja | 2011 | Peru |
The national committee is called Takvärkki. The 2009-2010 project is done for school children in Bolivia. [9]
In Germany there a few organizations which organize the Social Day. The biggest and oldest one is called Schüler Helfen Leben [10] (Students Helping Life), founded in 1992 when war in the Balkans started. Even today this organization runs youth projects in Balkan Region. Schüler Helfen Leben is also the only Day's Work organization in Germany where only students and young volunteers organize the Social Day. Over the years more than 1.000.000 students earned more than 20.000.000 Euro and realized more than 150 youth projects all over the western Balkans. The Patron of the Social Day is the German chancellor Angela Merkel.
Another organization is called "Acktion Tagwerk".[11] This organization is part of the Human Help Network and organizes the social day for children in Africa.
The Italian national committee is called "Operation Daywork".[12] It was founded with aid from Denmark.[2]
Founded with help from the Danish committee, [2] the Dutch national committee is called "One Days Work". [13]
Operation Day's Work (Norwegian: Operasjon Dagsverk) is administered by the School Student Union of Norway and was first held in 1964. [14]. The official page provide an oversight of earlier projects:
| Year | Country supported | Year | Country supported | Year | Country supported | Year | Country supported |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 | Algeria | 1967 | Peru | 1968 | Ceylon | 1969 | Zambia |
| 1970 | Zambia | 1971 | Guinea Bissau and Angola | 1972 | Portuguese Empire in Africa | 1973 | Bangladesh |
| 1974 | Tanzania | 1975 | Botswana | 1976 | Sudan | 1977 | Brazil |
| 1978 | Cambodian refugees in Thailand | 1979 | Jamaica | 1980 | Refugees from Eritrea in Sudan | 1981 | Afghanistan |
| 1982 | Zimbabwe | 1983 | Nicaragua | 1984 | Bolivia and Ecuador | 1985 | Namibia |
| 1987 | Eritrea | 1988 | Several places in Africa | 1989 | Peru | 1990 | Support for education in freedom |
| 1991 | Brazil and Chile | 1992 | Costa Rica, Ecuador, Bolivia and Brazil |
1993 | Cambodia | 1994 | South Africa |
| 1995 | Brazil | 1996 | Afghanistan | 1997 | Brazil | 1998 | Tanzania, Zanzibar, Malawi and Uganda |
| 1999 | Girls all over the world | 2000 | South Africa, Zimbabwe, Bolivia and Nicaragua |
2001 | Indonesia, New Guinea and Malaysia | 2002 | Sierra Leone |
| 2003 | Ceylon | 2004 | South Africa | 2005 | Brazil | 2006 | Nepal |
| 2007 | Several places in Central America | 2008 | Bangladesh | 2009 | Malawi, Mombasa Uganda and South Africa |
2010 | Brazil |
Sweden was the first country to etablish this event. Since 1962 the national committee has been under control of a student organization called "Sveriges Elevråds Centralorganiastion, SECO" [15]. There has been a power struggle inside the SECO organization and the government has demanded oversight over the collection of the money.
The campaign for 2010 will support schools in Sudan.[16]
The national committee is called "Operation Day's Work". It was founded n 1999.[17] According to their website they have been involved in the projects listed below.
| Year | Country supported | Year | Country supported | Year | Country supported | Year | Country supported |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998–1999 | Haiti | 1999–2000 | El Salvador | 2000 | Nepal | 2002 | Ethiopia |
| 2003 | Bangladesh | 2004 | Sierra Leone | 2005 | Vietnam |
Another organization called Schools for Schools is using the same concept.