06 June 2008

Bonn, Germany: Peace and development are inexorably linked and volunteerism can significantly contribute to both, said Donna Keher, Chief of the UNV Partnerships and Communications Group, at the 2008 Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS) today.

Ms. Keher stressed that achieving sustainable peace and development requires a "multidimensional approach" geared towards building societies at all levels and targeted at the grassroots. This is where volunteerism comes in.

"Volunteerism supports this approach: it is a key means of engaging people in post-conflict reconstruction and in the longer-term development of their own communities," she said.

Giving examples of voluntary action in times of armed conflict, she noted that such actions often arise spontaneously. She highlighted the role of UNV itself in providing support to UN peacekeeping and refugee work, particularly in the Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration of ex-combatants (DDR).

In DDR situations, she continued, combatants must voluntarily give up their weapons and communities must voluntarily take the soldiers back. "These volunteer acts need to be recognized and sustained," noted Ms. Keher. "If not, the DDR process is put at risk and the vicious cycle of violence will likely continue."

Furthermore, achieving objectives such as the UN's Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) "will require the skills and energies of millions of people". Again, volunteerism provides people with a means to reach these goals. It can work both formally, through civil society and NGOs, and informally, within people's own communities.

Ms. Keher pointed out that volunteerism also has a financial dimension. Over the past 15 years, for example, UNV has supported 43 UN peacekeeping missions and more than 50 elections, most recently in Nepal and Timor-Leste. It has deployed 8,300 UNV volunteers on 16,000 assignments with the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), with an estimated financial value of US$500 million.

"But the benefits go far beyond the financial," she concluded, since there was real added value that UNV volunteers could provide. One-third of UNV volunteers are engaged within their home countries, she said, contributing important local knowledge and providing a degree of legitimacy when dealing with local communities.
 
"UNV also plays an important role in bringing external expertise from neighbouring countries and from around the world," added Ms. Keher. "Many UNV volunteers have lived through war and civil strife in poorly developed areas. They have significant experience to share."