23 May 2001

Bonn, Germany: By the end of 2000, 11,000 individual volunteers and organizations supporting the objectives of the International Year of Volunteers had registered on a UNV-managed database.

"I had my first exposure to computers at the UNITeS kiosk. I am feeling much more confident now, and I am proud to know many things about computers. Now after two and a half months of training I want to impart the same kind of training to my friends in my village. I also want to study more about computers and would like to be a computer trainer."

Eleena Swain of India took computer training from national UN Volunteer Milie Mishra. Now she, in turn, teaches groups of college students on practical applications for the local people.

UN Volunteer Milie Mishra connects people in the Indian State of Orissa. A computer expert, Milie and seven fellow Indian UNVs pass on skills to local government officials, NGO trainers and community leaders. They explain, for example, how to monitor the spread of disease using special databases or tracking weather patterns online in an area prone to cyclones. Milie also meets weekly with trainees from women’s self-help groups, sharing useful tips on how they can better communicate and educate themselves through the Internet. The eight UNVs in Orissa were the first assigned under the United Nations Information Technology Service (UNITeS) in August.

Four months earlier, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan had announced UNITeS and called on the United Nations Volunteers to coordinate this worldwide volunteer corps working to help bridge the digital divide by applying information and communication technologies (ICT) to human development. By the end of the year, 40 volunteers were serving under the UNITeS programme in 13 developing countries – on-site. UNV took a second significant step forward during the year to encourage volunteering using information technology – online.

Within 10 months, UNV mobilized a new generation of volunteers, people who are unable to leave their jobs or families, to share their skills overseas for development. Now people can link up through their home and office computers to donate time for organizations around the world. Through online volunteering, a service developed and managed by UNV on the Netaid.org web site, qualified, part-time volunteers raise funds and publicize the work of NGOs in developing countries. They advise on child health care, create graphics and build databases.

Since the service was launched with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Cisco Systems in March, some 3,000 applicants signed up and about 135 development organizations posted assignments requiring one or more volunteers. Many applicants come from developing countries such as India. Out of all applicants during 2000, 61 per cent were women.