01 October 2004

Geneva, Switzerland: Launch of Volunteerism and Legislation Guidance Note
111th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union
Geneva, 1 October 2004
Statement by UNV Executive Coordinator, Ad de Raad
 
Mr President, Secretary General of IPU, Parliamentarians

It is an enormous privilege to address this 111th Inter Parliamentary Assembly for the first time as UNV Executive Coordinator. As focal point in the United Nations for volunteering, the UNV programme recognizes the importance of parliaments and parliamentarians in the national life of citizens and their critical role in promoting and supporting democratic processes. The full engagement of citizens in the life of societies is a vital part of well functioning democracies and volunteering down the ages has always proven to be a significant channel for such participation.

The International Year of Volunteers in 2001 highlighted the contribution of volunteerism to economic and social development and resulted in important recommendations at the UN General Assembly and in other fora on ways to promote more voluntary action and enhance further its impact on social and economic development. In this context, the resolution adopted at IPUs 168th session in Havana in 2001 urging Parliaments to establish legislative frameworks supportive of voluntary action was welcomed by the volunteer movement and various other stakeholders.

The Guidance Note on Volunteerism and Legislation that is being launched today is the concrete follow-up to action taken by the IPU Assembly in 2001. It is the result of extensive consultation with parliamentarians in over 40 countries from every region of the world. I would like here to express our deep appreciation to every individual parliamentarian who volunteered to give us the benefit of his or her thinking on the subject. The publication also reflects one of a number of collaborative efforts on the part of the three organizations involved in its preparation – the IPU, the UN Volunteers and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, collaboration which we are committed to seek to strengthen further in the period ahead

Mr. President,

The timing of this launch is highly relevant – as you will be aware, in 2005 the progress made towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals during the first five years since the Millennium Declaration, which was adopted by the government of every member country of the United Nations, will be under close scrutiny. There will be many decisions adopted, at the highest level, on action that needs to be taken to reinforce efforts to reduce poverty by half and to achieve the other MDGs by the year 2015. It is now well established that civic action through volunteerism has a vital role in helping to achieve the targets set and there is also agreement that for this fact to be more widely recognized, strategies need to put in place to promote it further. Legislative frameworks, which help create a positive enabling environment for volunteerism to flourish, are increasingly being put in place in industrialized countries - but are still a rarity in the developing world. This publication should go a long way to assist legislators in developing countries in particular to gain from the experiences of others and adapt this to their own social and cultural norms.

The Guidance Note is just one part of a series of initiatives taken as a result of IYV 2001 and which will be reported on by the UN Secretary General at a debate at the UN General Assembly late next year. We hope very much that the views of parliaments on voluntary action by citizens will properly represented at that event and we look forward very much to working with IPU and the IFRC towards that end.

Thank you