by Natasha Mistry

06 December 2000

BONN: The United Nations Volunteers programme (UNV), with the financial support of the Government of Japan, has helped conduct seven regional workshops to promote the International Year of Volunteers around the world. A total of 470 representatives from 60 countries took part in the workshops, which were designed to build regional and global networks of volunteers, government institutions and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

The workshops, which focused on the IYV 2001 objectives of volunteer promotion, networking, facilitation and recognition, have taken place in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Central America, the Middle East and the Pacific.

Participants include those involved in volunteer work at the national level as well as those keen on actively promoting 2001. Representatives have come together from varied backgrounds and volunteer experiences including those from NGOs, governments, academia, UNV, volunteer groups, civil society and the media.

The IYV workshops encourage participants to share information about the different forms and cultures of volunteering within the regions; identify volunteer partners; promote a common understanding of IYV 2001 objectives; and form national IYV 2001 committees to determine action plans for the year. Countries were able to exchange ideas, build networks within their regions and return home to disseminate information on volunteering in other countries. Some countries such as South Africa and Uganda held national workshops to apply IYV's objectives in the national context. In Asia, discussion is under way for a volunteer exchange programme for young adults.

Most workshops concluded with a declaration or a resolution intended for governments and other volunteer stakeholders of the regions. These resolutions are tangible workshop outcomes that provide further guidelines for the facilitation and promotion of the year. These documents also reflect the cultural and social uniqueness within countries. The resolution emerging from the southern African workshop in Pretoria on 27-29 June 2000, for example, highlights the tradition of volunteering in African society. It states that volunteering "is deeply embedded in all of our societies as expressed in the concepts of ubuntu, botho, ujama, and harambee…IYV 2001 gives us an opportunity to rekindle the spirit of volunteering and community care".

The resolution calls on all countries within southern Africa to produce a national report containing an assessment of the socio-economic impact and statistical information about volunteering. It urges volunteers to submit these reports to the United Nations General Assembly at the end of 2001.