01 January 2000

BONN: The International Year of Volunteers was opened at a ceremony at UN Headquarters on 28 November 2000. Volunteers in more than 100 countries joined in for the global launch on 5 December 2000.

"I see you [United Nations Volunteers] as a wonderful example of how parts of the UN system can interact with and promote civil society. …The Red Cross and the Red Crescent are looking forward to a fruitful cooperation in the year ahead of us."
Dr. Astrid N. Heiberg, President of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies – the world’s largest humanitarian organization with 105 million volunteers

UNV’s preparations for 2001, the International Year of Volunteers (IYV 2001), came into full swing during 2000. UNV mounted a massive advocacy campaign and became a hub of information as news of volunteer events flowed in from all corners of the globe. The interactive IYV web site developed into a portal for a broad network of voluntary organizations, researchers, governments and UN partners.

As focal point for the Year, UNV encouraged volunteer actors at the national level to pool their resources and plan joint activities. By the end of December, 124 IYV national, state and city committees in 101 countries had formed to kick-start the Year. UNV also became the Year’s "vocal" point, making the voice of volunteerism heard in the international policy arena.

In June, recommendations from an Expert Working Group organized by UNV on the contribution of volunteering to social development were adopted at the UN General Assembly’s special session on the Outcome and Follow-up to the World Summit on Social Development (Geneva 2000). In December, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution reaffirming the importance of volunteerism and determined that two plenary meetings at the 56th session of the General Assembly in December 2001 should be set aside to discuss the support that governments and the UN system could provide to volunteering.

UNV moved proactively to support the Year’s objectives during 2000:

• For the first time, UNV mobilized 34 national UN Volunteers in as many countries to strengthen civil society through domestic volunteering. Throughout 2001, these volunteers will collect information on ways in which governments can assist volunteers that will feature in the report of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan at the close of 2001.
• With support from the Government of Japan, UNV organized seven regional workshops designed to share ideas about IYV 2001, help set up IYV National Committees and launch national volunteer action plans for the year. Close to 500 volunteer representatives from 60 countries took part.
• Support from the Government of The Netherlands permitted the organization of a round table on volunteerism from a developing country perspective and ensured that the subject of volunteerism would be raised at the Commission for Social Development in 2001.