15 December 2003

Quito, Ecuador: Hundreds of volunteers, half of them students and youth, planted nearly 1,000 trees in the Parque Metropolitano in northern Quito.

The First Lady of Ecuador Ximena Bohorquez said, "this planting of trees, in addition to helping the environment, is a symbolic act in which we recognize the contributions of volunteers throughout the country." The trees were provided by the Municipality of Quito and the Small Grants Program of the Global Environmental Facility (GEF). Representatives from a half dozen high schools, the Red Cross, Defensa Civil (emergency volunteer service), federal agencies, university and youth organizations, United Nations employees, and ordinary citizens joined together to make their city a "greener" place.

The tree planting was just one of the events that took place in celebration of the International Volunteer Day, 2003, in various cities in Ecuador. The day before the planting, a round table entitled "Volunteerism: Acting in Solidarity for a Better Future" was hosted. The Round Table was introduced by Mauricio Valdez, Resident Representative of UNDP Ecuador, who invited the volunteers and potential volunteers present to join in the global effort to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), by acting in their local contexts. The discussion was also attended by member of the Provincial Parliament while the Executive Director of Grassroots Radio in Ecuador spoke on the virtues and challenges of volunteering.

In the same event, Sven von der Ohe, Coordinator of the UNV Program in Ecuador, announced the "Donate your Time" initiative, a collaborative effort among groups of civil society, volunteer associations, public sector institutions and the UN Volunteer programme to establish an on-line volunteer exchange, to match the available human capital in Quito and other cities to the needs of grassroots and service organizations. "Although the initiative will take advantage of internet technology to facilitate the links between the demand and supply of volunteer capacities, the campaign will not be limited to cyberspace, but will be accompanied by a series of promotional activities in key spaces in the Ecuadorian society," explained von der Ohe. The First Lady has agreed to serve on the Steering Committee of the Donate your Time campaign.

One of the most significant events took place in Esmeraldas, where the Municipality and the UNV Programme, through its "Support to Intra-City Volunteerism Project (ICV)" inaugurated the "Municipal Volunteer Office" on 4 December. Mayor Ernesto Estupiñan presided over the inauguration, incorporating volunteerism as a tool for urban development in this coastal city of approximately 140,000 inhabitants, largely Afro-Ecuadorians. The objective of the project, which is also being carried out in other cities in the region, is to explore ways where volunteer efforts can be used with support from public and private sectors. In many cases, volunteers can "fill the gap" between what local governments can provide and the actual needs of the community.