"Volunteering, particularly at the community level, will help achieve the development goals and objectives set in the Millennium Declaration and in other major United Nations conferences, summits, special sessions and their follow-up meetings."
Resolution A/57/106, "Follow-up to the International Year of Volunteers", adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 26 November 2002

Year after year, the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme continues to demonstrate its value as a true partner in development - with UNDP, within the UN system at large, with governments and with civil society organizations worldwide. And 2002 was no exception. In fact, it was another year of growth for the organization. A record 5,234 UN Volunteers took up assignments ranging from building computer networks in rural Bhutan to sharing key human rights messages with indigenous communities in the jungles of Bolivia. Equally significant were the strides made to better promote and nurture local volunteer action through strengthened partnerships with the private sector, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and civil society.

Recognizing the role that volunteers play in advancing the agenda for peace and development, I was pleased to see the emerging partnership between UNV and UNDP's Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery (BCPR) to assist countries vulnerable to violent conflicts or natural disasters. Joining UNDP country offices, the UN Volunteers supported by BCPR provide professional expertise to bridge post-conflict peace-building and recovery in such countries as Angola, Macedonia, Nicaragua and Sri Lanka.

Volunteer networks are essential for connecting the global community around the achievement of a new set of objectives on behalf of the world's poorest- the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This ambitious agenda for reducing poverty and improving lives agreed on by world leaders at the Millennium Summit in September 2000 sets out clear targets, most of which are to be reached by the year 2015. We are obliged to do something about the fact that more than a billion people still live on less than US$1 a day and that 25 million people have already died from the effects of HIV/AIDS. The MDGs will guide our collective efforts toward our common course. The time is now, and we need to take action.

Over the years, UN Volunteers have worked in tangible ways to support the principles underlying the MDGs. They provide health and home-based care for those living with HIV/AIDS. They fight poverty by encouraging people-driven community development activities and job creation schemes. They target gains in primary education by developing curricula and mobilizing local volunteers to improve conditions at schools.

Indeed, the UN Volunteers are important players in meeting the MDGs, but their contribution is multiplied many times over when considering the impact they can have through local volunteers in the communities where they serve. Volunteers, the backbone of civil society, have already gained significant ground in promoting human development. In recent years we have come to recognize volunteerism as a crosscutting social phenomenon involving all groups and all aspects of human activity. And in looking to the future, there can be no doubt that if we are to achieve the MDGs, we have to find ways to tap the solidarity and creativity of the millions of ordinary women and men who volunteer every day. We count on them to help carry the torch and make this a better world for all.

Mark Malloch Brown