"For far too long we have been obsessed with paid work - assuming that the money changing hands made it far more important… Of course it isn't like that anymore. People of all ages and social class are giving their time. Some of them even have fun. And the old narrow definition of work is blurring more every year."
Anita Roddick, founder and co-chair of the Body Shop and Eminent Person for the International Year of Volunteers.

UN Volunteers bring years of experience in their respective fields of expertise. And more senior UNV specialists draw upon lessons learned during a long career. One is Guerrino Pavolotti, an Italian expert in the production of cheese serving under the UNV-managed United Nations Short-Term Advisory Resources (UNISTAR). During 2000, he carried out three short missions to Knaye, north-west Syria, to help the Apostolic Vicariat of Aleppo create employment opportunities by reopening its dairy, which had been idle for four years. The Italian expert got the machines running again, improved the quality of "pizza cheese" and a sweet Taleggio with a simplified process and visited hotels and restaurants to find out what kind of cheese - and how much - they could use. He then went to see local farmers to encourage them to supply more milk.

Increased cheese production has resulted in more jobs, which are sorely needed in this region - large numbers of people have emigrated abroad in search of work. "We are satisfied with the results at the end of the missions," says the UN Volunteer. "Now the workers have tools that will bring durable and visible results in the years ahead."

Numerous other senior UN Volunteers made a significant impact during the year:

• A 62-year-old Japanese manager who retired from an engineering company in Tokyo helped members of small communities in Cambodia set up associations of elderly people to promote traditional culture, arts and handicraft. In the communities of Angkor Park, a Cambodian area well known for its archaeological treasures, the UN Volunteer brought older and younger villagers together to engage in folk music and dance and practice traditional medicine. Following his example, older villagers in three communities took up activities on a voluntary basis, teaching children the rich heritage of Khmer culture.
• A 78-year-old UN Volunteer advised managers of Ethiopia's Gullele Soap Factory on ways to increase the efficiency of the 30-year-old plant, which was recently privatized. He pointed out the need to keep abreast of