THE INTERNATIONAL Volunteer Day activities planned for today provide the opportunity for celebration by communities, peoples and governments, of all that is achieved by voluntary effort, nationally and internationally.
In 2001, the International Year of Volunteers (IYV) created global awareness about the massive contribution citizens make through voluntary action to the development process and how volunteerism helps foster sustainability of this process.
The year gave rise to United Nations General Assembly resolutions calling on governments to involve and empower all segments of their populations in development activities and to build on their potential to become active forces for change.
The ongoing debate on technical co-operation reform also underscores the need for all development partners, including recipient countries, donors, development organisations and practitioners, to explore innovative ways of responding to the challenge of involving local people with a view to fostering peoples' ownership of the development process.
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) call upon governments to take a bold stand on achieving human development.
This calls for new mechanisms for facilitating co-operation and complementarities between development institutions and local populations, including voluntary organisations. The UNV Programme is a central mechanism in the United Nations system which can help to activate the process and create the needed interface and interaction between development partners and volunteer involving organisations.
POTENTIAL OF VOLUNTEERISM
However, the potential of volunteerism for development can only
be realised if it operates within a favourable environment encompassing other development partners at different levels. Promoting such an environment involves support to capacity development and facilitating outreach to, and interaction with, the local population.
UNV supports this process through the mobilisation of skills and experienced UN volunteers. Two major ways UNV articulates its support to the MDGs are by promoting:
(a) the application of volunteerism to monitoring and disseminating information on the progress of MDG implementation; and
(b) specific activities through which volunteerism can contribute to the achievement of the MDGs.
Attaining the MDGs requires an awareness on the part of citizens and society at large of their importance in the context of human development.
It is anticipated that the IVD celebrations today will stimulate action from organisations and development partners for greater voluntary involvement and pave the way to a broader volunteer support for implementing and monitoring the MDGs.
From the Jamaica arm of the UNV Programme. UNV is the volunteer arm of the UN system supporting peace and development initiatives in nearly 150 countries. Created by the UN General Assembly in 1970 and administered by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), UNV works through UNDP country offices to mobilise volunteers - two-thirds of them from developing countries - and promote the ideals of volunteerism around the world. For further information about the United Nations Volunteer Programme in Jamaica, visit www.unv.org.jm.
Seeds of kindness
I HAVE the highest regard for the institution of volunteerism.
Based on altruism, volunteerism reaches out to say that "we care that you are suffering, that you are lonely, that you are hungry, that you need an education, that you are living in unhealthy conditions or that our environment needs protecting and we are doing something positive about it."
This is truly laudable and must be central to our living.
Woven in the fabric of volunteerism is the thread of goodwill which uplifts humanity and spreads love and peace.
It counteracts negative effects, especially that of poverty which sometimes is a breeding ground for conflict and disharmony and so volunteerism must determine our values and attitudes.
Each one of us needs to reach out and sow seeds of kindness and so channel our passions and our energies in creating a more loving country and indeed a better world.
I commend all our volunteers. You have attached yourselves to a great cause that demonstrates that it is what we value and not what we have that makes us truly rich.
I note that this year, the activities marking International Volunteer Day are centred around the Millennium Development Goals of eradicating extreme poverty, achieving universal primary education and improved health and environment care, among other things.
May these activities serve to encourage others to join with a programme and reach out to someone in need. Make sure that you are a volunteer.
Sir Howard Cooke
Governor-General of Jamaica
A challenge
not to lose heart
AMID A daily dose of news stories about war, conflicts and other man-made disasters, it is often a challenge not to lose heart when we see the suffering inflicted on so many millions of people throughout the world.
But far away from the spotlight, there are millions of generous individuals who, around the clock and around the world, roll up their sleeves and volunteer to help in any way they can.
Working alone or as part of an organised movement, they care for the old, the sick and the handicapped.
They lend a hand to people living with HIV/AIDS, and help remove the stigma unjustly attached to them. They teach children to read, and young adults the vocational skills they need to make a living.
They build houses, clean rivers, dig wells and improve living conditions in many other ways as well. They help to protect human rights, build democracy, resolve conflict and maintain peace. They rush relief supplies to people struck by calamity, and work with marginalised groups to ensure that their needs are heard and met.
Volunteers do not ask, 'why volunteer?', but rather 'when?', 'where?' and 'how?'. These dedicated and courageous individuals are important partners in the quest for a better, fairer and safer world.
Information and communication technologies make volunteering simpler than ever. Increasingly, volunteers go on-line to share their skills with those in need. They build web sites and databases, provide legal support, create curricula for schools and take on a vast range of other tasks that can be carried out from a home computer with access to the Internet.
And through the United Nations Information Technology Service (UNITeS), a qualified corps of ICT volunteers work on-site in developing countries to help people learn how to use the resources of the Internet and information technology for human development.
On this International Volunteer Day, let us recognise the contribution that volunteers make to societies all over the world. Let us also pay tribute to one of their greatest champions, the late Sharon Capeling-Alakja, the Executive Co-ordinator of the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) who passed away last month. And let us remember that each contribution no matter how small can help make a difference.
Kofi A. Annan
Secretary-General of the United Nations
