10 February 2004

Bonn, Germany: The Online Volunteering (OV) service has been relaunched at a new URL, www.onlinevolunteering.org. The OV service, managed by the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme, resumes its mission of connecting online volunteers with non-governmental organizations (NGOs), nonprofit organizations (NPOs), UN organizations and academic institutions serving people and communities in the developing world.

Those who were registered on the OV service at its previous home NetAid, will find that their existing user information and password(s) remain valid at the new OV service web address, as well as all group, assignment and volunteer information.

Online Volunteers perform a wide range of services, including translations, researching and writing articles, mentoring young people, designing web sites, providing expert advice, and more. Since its launch in 2000, more than 11,000 people have registered on the OV service. New features at the re-launched OV service include a regularly-updated news section, expanded support materials for both online volunteers and the organizations that host them, and information in French and Spanish.

The Online Volunteering (OV) was developed jointly by the UN Volunteers programme and NetAid, a New York-based nonprofit organization which hosted the service for three years. The move of the OV service entirely under the UN Volunteers programme will allow UNV to further develop the service, while enabling NetAid to pursue other activities, including its World Schoolhouse education campaign, its World Class game to teach children in the developed world about how poverty can keep children in the world’s poorest countries from obtaining an education, and an interactive educational module on volunteering. NetAid and the UN Volunteers programme will continue to jointly choose and announce the Online Volunteers of the Year and work together through an assortment of volunteer-related activities and promotions.