People drive development from the local level. In recognition of this fact, the UN General Assembly in 1976 calls on the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) to spearhead the Domestic Development Services (DDS). This new programme highlights South-South approaches to grassroots development. Skilled and experienced UN Volunteers -- recruited and fielded within their regions -- support and scale-up community-based initiatives through formal training, extended on-site assignments and short-term consultancies. In many ways, DDS is ahead of its time, as it advances the kinds of participatory development approaches popularized in the 1980s.

Initial moves - Early challenges

In 1979, the first team of UN Volunteers is assigned to a DDS project in Asia. The regional project, funded by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and executed by UNV, is first based in Colombo, Sri Lanka, and later in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Working with leading Asian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in developing the project, UNV stresses the need for exchanging volunteer community workers to catalyse grassroots initiatives and to encourage development workers to share their experiences. The UN Volunteers serving under the DDS programme are "foreign but not too foreign" in their host communities. They will play the role of change agents at the grassroots while expanding the outreach of supporting organizations in this area. The approach raises skepticism: Can UNDP/UNV, as an inter-governmental body, adopt a "non-governmental" approach to development with direct intervention at the community level?

Despite initial reservations, the DDS programme in Asia grows with UNDP support and a similar project opens up in Africa in 1984. The main office based in Lusaka, Zambia, moves to Harare, Zimbabwe in 1987. At the same time, DDS launches activities with youth in the South Pacific. The regional office based in Apia, Western Samoa, develops partnerships with well-known private and public institutions. Sarvodaya in Sri Lanka, Butsi in Indonesia, PNVSCA in the Philippines, the Thamassat University in Thailand, the Tribuvan University in Nepal, the Institute for Cultural Affairs in Zambia, the Malawi Young Pioneers, the Regional Youth Centres in Togo and the National Youth Council in Fiji are among its main partners. The programme gains support from national authorities and UNDP country offices. Government officials take note of grassroots development realities in neighbouring countries and appraise the value of DDS exchanges. In addition, DDS volunteers at the community level and UNVs working within ministries help bring together the development efforts of governments and civil society.

In their host communities, the UNVs rapidly work "small wonders" in reviving or kick-starting local organizations and stimulating initiatives for income generation, popular education, community health and transfer of technologies. These initiatives, most of which are launched with small grants to community groups, are coupled with on-the-job training opportunities to their members and leaders.

1986: Expansion phase

Under the DDS programme, UNV mobilizes over 300 volunteers a year in large parts of Africa, Asia and The Pacific in the mid- to late-1980s. The host countries provide strong support given the opportunity for nationals to serve abroad within their "home" region. As a result, country-based DDS projects emerge in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Nepal, Togo, Zambia, Zimbabwe and elsewhere. By 1991, DDS claims a network of some 200 organizations in over 40 countries committed to supporting local groups of youth, women and farmers. A major contribution to DDS from the Government of Germany in 1990 and donations from the Netherlands, Switzerland and United Kingdom strengthen the growth of DDS.

1993: Programme evolution

In its first strategy document, "UNV Strategic Approach", issued in 1993, UNV stresses community-oriented, participatory approaches to development as the core of its efforts. Building on the DDS experience, UNV targets a range of activities including UNV subregional programmes to eradicate poverty. Pilot initiatives are funded through the UNV Special Voluntary Fund (SVF). In 1996, UNV mainstreams DDS in its overall development work. DDS field workers are assigned to "non-DDS projects" to promote participatory approaches. It paves the way for the "Strategy 2000", a proactive grassroots approach and a main chapter in the history of UNV.

* William Andrianasolo is Chief of UNV's Research and Development Unit and a former DDS Regional Programme Adviser in Africa. Robert Leigh is UNV Representative in North America and a former Chief of UNV's Participatory Development Section.