12 April 2003

Santiago, Chile: Parliamentarians from 115 countries Friday adopted two wide-ranging resolutions stressing the role volunteers play in helping promote democracy and preventing and managing natural disasters.

The 1,200 delegates at the 108th Inter-Parliamentary Conference held here from 6-11 April noted in a resolution on Parliaments' Role in Strengthening Democratic Institutions and Human Development in a Fragmented World that "volunteerism builds strong cohesive communities, encourages participation in the democratic process and reduces social tensions by forging a common view".

Delegates also strongly endorsed a previous resolution adopted by the IPU Council at its 168th session on 7 April 2001, "expressing support for volunteerism and encouraging closer cooperation between the IPU and the United Nations Volunteers in this regard".

To read the full text of this resolution, visit: www.ipu.org/conf-e/108-1.htm

In a second resolution also adopted unanimously -- International Cooperation for the Prevention and Management of Transborder Natural Disasters and their Impact on the Regions Concerned -- delegates called on governments to "recognize the critical role of voluntary community-based and non-governmental organizations in disaster preparedness and response, and to facilitate their work, respecting their roles and principles, by enacting appropriate legislation".

To read the full text of this resolution, visit: www.ipu.org/conf-e/108-2.htm

UNV and IPU have developed a partnership with other organizations with global outreach and different sector perspectives on volunteerism. Since last year, UNV, IPU, the International Business Leaders Forum and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies have held joint panels on volunteering at the World Assembly on Ageing in Madrid, the XIV International Conference on AIDS in Barcelona, the Prep Com for the World Summit on Social Development (WSSD) in Bali and the WSSD itself in Johannesburg.