07 May 2001

Rio de Janeiro/Bonn: Volunteers around the world take up key roles in a weekly "million-person march" to urban centres that persistently escapes the media spotlight, according to Sharon Capeling-Alakija, Executive Coordinator of the United Nations Volunteers programme (UNV).

"So far as I know, [last week's] event was not featured in a single newspaper, magazine or broadcast anywhere in the world," she told a conference of the International Union of Local Authorities (IULA) late Friday in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The world's cities grow by 1 million people each week, she said, adding: "We started the 20th century with perhaps a dozen cities claiming 1 million residents or more. We have begun the 21st century with several hundred cities of that size."

"Urbanization is arguably the boldest headline of the last century," she said.

The Executive Coordinator called on local authorities to promote strong community institutions that are needed to solve complex problems associated with poverty in many cities, including HIV/AIDS. She observed that partly due to the sustained community-focused, volunteer efforts in Senegal, for example, HIV infection has levelled off at 1.5 per cent of adults.

She urged IULA delegates to take the lead in efforts to expand and redefine volunteerism through city-to-city projects where people volunteer in other countries as "diplomats, advisers and learners".

Municipal authorities can look into new forms of volunteer effort, such as the United Nations Information Technology Service (UNITeS)--a brainchild of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan launched in his Millennium Report. The worldwide programme helps bridge the digital divide by mobilizing IT-savvy volunteers to work with developing country partners in the application of technology to human development in such areas as health, education, the environment, small enterprises and micro-finance.

Many UN Volunteers work in cities and towns across the developing world--especially in shantytowns and inner cities. They often take up activities in areas of crisis, such as Kosovo and East Timor. "In such places, when local authorities break down or are in transition, the UN is often called upon to fill the gap, carrying out many of the functions ordinarily assumed by local authorities," said Ms. Capeling-Alakija.

"There is a crying need for individuals with experience in local government who are willing to serve the United Nations as short-term volunteers, assisting with such operations," she said.