I want to begin by telling you how very pleased I am to be in Hong Kong to participate in the official launch of the Hong Kong, China Committee on UNV. In particular, I would like to thank my hosts for making this possible.

As we celebrate the onset of a new era, we also take leave of the 20th century. We draw courage from its remarkable advances. We celebrate human resilience. And at the same time, we acknowledge -- with humility and grief -- its disappointments and tragedies.

We have learned that the advances we celebrate also bring with them terrible responsibilities. We have learned that our planet is vulnerable, but also that millions of people in all corners of the world are committed to protecting it. We have learned that even in modern times, unimaginable wealth can co-exist with unthinkable poverty, and that our common destiny may well lie in our efforts to share more equitably the resources of our planet.

Perhaps most importantly, we have learned that -- as the poet John Donne wrote centuries ago -- "no man is an island." Standing before you, I feel compelled to add: "No woman is an island." And here in Hong Kong, we might also add that, given the reality of globalization today, not even an island is an island.

In other words, none of us stands alone. As fellow occupants of this planet, our fate, and the fate of the societies we inhabit, are bound together. We have a responsibility to each other -and to the places we inhabit together.

From that realization comes the inspiration that moves United Nations Volunteers to leave hearth and home, to travel across the globe, helping to brighten the future of people they have never met.

From that realization comes the inspiration that moves people around the world to become volunteers in their own countries or communities -- to work, often without wages, toward a better future for other people's families and other people's children.

And from that realization springs "civil society" -- a concept that over the course of the last decade has begun to change how many of us think about the world and our places in it.

Civil society is more than an idea. It is no exaggeration, I think, to call it a political and spiritual awakening. And today, it is also a movement. Its history, as our poets remind us, has deep roots in many different national traditions.

Today the notion of civil society has begun to enjoy wide currency. As one observer has written, it is the "space where people come together outside the institutions of market and government", a vehicle through which citizens can exercise individual initiative in the private pursuit of public purposes."

Civil society expresses -- in the organization of everyday life -- human caring. In the words of the 1999 UNDP Human Development Report, it beats with an invisible heart.

Care, the Human Development Report reminds us, is not merely pleasant. It is empowering. It has a positive effect on life expectancy. It is an underlying factor in preventing child malnutrition. It is not merely an input into human development; it is an output. "The role of care in the formation of human capabilities and in human development is fundamental."

The commitment to care for others is often thought to be altruistic- based on love and shared emotion. But, as the Report says, "it is also a social obligation, socially constructed and enforced by social norms and rewards." In other words, caring can be taught. It can be encouraged. It can be promoted.

And that brings me to the key message I want to share with you today.

Over the next two years …and beyond…all of us have a wonderful opportunity to encourage and honor civic engagement.

The United Nations General Assembly has voted to declare the year 2001 the International Year of the Volunteer.

IYV 2001 aims at "increased recognition, facilitation, networking, and promotion of volunteering." It provides a unique opportunity to highlight the achievements of the millions of volunteers here in Hong Kong and worldwide who devote some time of their lives to serving others, and to encourage more people globally to engage in volunteer activity.

The General Assembly also designated the United Nations Volunteers programme to be the international focal point for the worldwide activities and events that will mark the year.

UNV is but one of many organizations around the world that promotes volunteerism. Ours is a special mission. Our strategy is multilateral: our volunteers come from many places, and work in many countries. And the work they do sets them apart from most other volunteers: they support efforts aimed at international development cooperation.

UNVs have provided assistance to many UN organizations and operations in the fields of social and economic development, humanitarian aid and the promotion of peace, democracy and respect for human dignity, and above all in helping to link these efforts closely to the strengths, preferences, and needs of the populations for whom they are intended. In designating 2001 the year of volunteers, the General Assembly recognized the special importance of volunteerism at this time, noting the "trend for civil society, in partnership with government and the private sector, to assume ever greater responsibilities in the development process." It is affirming the importance of human caring.

If the year 2000 is Y2K, then for us, the year 2001 is Y2Care: the year to care.

It is the year to promote volunteerism around the world, and to celebrate the countless people around the world who give of themselves, day after day to share skills, nurture local leadership, and facilitate positive change. They frequently do this without remuneration and, most often, without glory. It celebrates volunteers as weavers of the social fabric -and in so doing affirms that economies exist for the sake of society, not the other way around.

The International Year of the Volunteer does not merely recognize volunteers; it acknowledges the role of volunteerism in creating social cohesion and keeping key services institutions vital -including many hospitals, schools, libraries, and day care centers worldwide whose doors would close without the contributions of volunteers.

In the account books of nations, the contributions of volunteers are recorded with invisible ink. They don't show up -- but we know that if they did, the numbers would be impressive indeed. IYV 2001 helps draw attention to the economic contributions of unpaid workers.

It celebrates those who are making a difference in ordinary settings, as well as those who willingly travel to the world's hot spots, putting their lives on the line -- like the 500 UN Volunteers who recently helped to fulfill the UN's commitment to facilitate East Timor's choice for its future.

Many countries have long-standing traditions of volunteerism, but have treated unpaid work as marginal, unimportant, and old-fashioned. IYV 2001 proclaims the centrality, importance, and relevance of volunteerism. It encourages an exciting and growing trend: corporate volunteerism. More and more companies are seeing volunteerism not only as good corporate citizenship, but also as an effective approach to developing capable, motivated, strategic workers and managers.

IYV 2001 encourages organizations, including those within the United Nations family, to tap the potential of volunteers, both UNVs and local volunteers. It calls upon public and private enterprises to make a "time-out" for volunteer work viable for more workers.

Finally, IYV 2001 encourages a different way to look at problems and their solutions. As Albert Einstein once said, "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them."

In closing, I would like to pay tribute to the Agency for Volunteer Service and all its supporters for their work in facilitating the participation of the people of Hong Kong in the international volunteer effort. The collective force of this noble, global endeavour is essential in building bridges of hope to take us across to the new millennium.

Thank you.