12 December 2005

Cairo, Egypt: Over 3,000 Egyptian youth gathered at Al Azhar Park on Saturday to explore how and where they can volunteer to help Egypt achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015.

Organized by the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme under the patronage of the Ministry of Youth, the 2005 International Volunteer Day (IVD) aimed to channel the energy of Egypt’s large youth population to take development forward. Celebrating its fourth year in Egypt, IVD is promising to become a cherished tradition on the Egyptian civil society agenda.

From natural disasters to ‘silent crises’ such as poverty and disease, volunteers are making a difference across the globe and helping the international community achieve the MDGs, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan said in his message on IVD.

“Promoting volunteerism, strengthening the support provided to volunteers, and recognizing the contributions of volunteers, are all vital if the Goals are to be realized in the next decade,” said Kemal Dervis, UNDP Administrator. “I encourage governments of both rich and poor countries, as well as other stakeholders and the entire UN system, to create more opportunities for people to contribute to development in tangible ways through volunteerism.”

In Egypt, IVD 2005 featured several workshops to engage youth including sessions on volunteerism and MDGs. Another creative workshop was the “arts for development” where participants created kites reflecting the MDGs. In addition, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) were given the chance to show documentaries related to different development topics alongside the annual exhibition showcasing volunteers’ work throughout the country. The exhibition included 40 booths put up by NGOs and international and bilateral organizations.

The day’s events culminated in a concert featuring young musical bands including Basheer, Conspirience, Ehaab Abdou, Massar Egbari, Resala and Wust Al Balad.

Thanks to successful partnerships forged, several private sector companies and organizations contributed to this year’s event, namely Vodafone, P&G, the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, Daghash Tents, DAG Egypt and the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood, Nile FM and Mobise.