21 June 2005

During Kazakhstan’s National Spring Voluntary Week in April, more than 40,000 people in 19 cities across the country participate in hundreds of MDG-related volunteer events, including benefit concerts for the disabled and elderly, blood collection drives, HIV/AIDS awareness seminars, clean-ups of parks and other public spaces, and tree planting.

In Tegucigalpa, Honduras, UN Volunteer Peter Claesson of Sweden rallies 56 artists in July to volunteer their talent to promote the MDGs through murals and sculptures. Some 500 people, mainly local volunteers, come together to create 45 pieces of artwork. Politicians and businesses support the endeavour by donating supplies, meals, and accommodation.

UN Volunteers in Albania use the power of film to raise awareness on the MDGs. Together with the Albanian National Film Centre, the volunteers screen a documentary on national efforts to meet the Goals in three towns in the country’s Fier region. In all, more than 700 people turn out to see the film.
Through an initiative of UNV, UNDP, UNESCO, and Faça Parte, Brazil’s volunteer institute, information kits on volunteerism and the MDGs are distributed in August to 20,000 schools and 5,000 state and municipal education secretariats in the country. The kit provides visual materials to help demonstrate to students the importance of voluntary action in achieving the MDGs.

In Viet Nam, the UNV country team awards a Vietnamese youth the opportunity to travel to rural areas to foster discussion on the Goals. During the second half of 2004, the 23-year-old visits 13 provinces with the lowest MDG-index ranking.

UNV headquarters staff in Bonn, Germany, celebrate IVD 2004 by organizing a volunteer walkathon to raise funds for a street children’s project in Bolivia. Together with the City of Bonn and the German-based organization Naira, more than 200 people turn out for the event.

In December, five cities in the Caribbean and Latin America receive the “City with a Heart” award. Sponsored by UNV, UN-Habitat and the Inter-American Development Bank’s Initiative on Social Capital, Ethics and Development, the award recognizes each city’s achievement in engaging residents through voluntary action in urban development projects.

UNV, UNDP and Pakistan’s National Commission for Human Development organize in December the first International Conference on Volunteerism and the MDGs in Islamabad. More than 200 international delegates attend the three-day conference, focusing on the role of volunteers in supporting the actions of national governments in meeting their commitments outlined in the Millennium Declaration – the framework of the MDGs signed by world leaders at the UN Millennium Summit.