This publication analyses the importance of volunteer work in the development of cities and towns, and presents the urban agenda of the United Nations Volunteers Programme (UNV). UNV promotes and supports volunteerism through different means and also fields teams of UN Volunteers in developing and transitional countries. UNV has devoted particular attention to urban areas and this has evolved over a period of 30 years, from scattered activities to systemic programming, culminating in making urban development one of the priorities for its Strategy 2000. Rather than overlapping with other development agencies, UNV has been able to offer a distinct value-added and to complement efforts.

UNV’s Strategy 2000 came into being shortly after the ‘Istanbul Meeting’ in 1996 (the United Nations’ Summit Conference on Human Settlements ‘Habitat II’). Coincidentally, Year 2001 is the first year after the conclusion of UNV’s Strategy 2000 and the year of ‘Istanbul + 5’ (the Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly for an Overall Review and Appraisal of the Implementation of the Habitat Agenda). This means that UNV’s Strategy 2000 was implemented during the period between ‘Istanbul’ and ‘Istanbul + 5’, and produced the urban agenda which is presented in
this publication.

‘Istanbul + 5’ will review global achievements in the field of human settlements since the ‘Istanbul’ meeting and will also discuss future actions. Therefore, this publication has come in time because it takes stock of what UNV has achieved throughout this period, and also discusses the future.
The present publication is also well-timed because 2001 has been chosen by the United Nations as the International Year of the Volunteers with UNV being the institutional focal point. This publication is part of UNV efforts to provide information about volunteerism in general and about its programme in particular.