16 February 2006

Turin, Italy: Beyond the 17 days of sports and athletic glory, the Torino Winter Olympics is serving as a platform to highlight the role of volunteers in not only the Olympic Games but in other areas of society.

Tapping into the energy surrounding the Olympics, including the presence of thousands of volunteers, the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme has teamed up with the Non-profit coordination for Torino 2006 and Idea Solidale to host a forum on 25 February discussing volunteerism and the promotion of human rights. The session is part of the Village of Olympic Values and Solidarity, also known as the Ethical Village, a Games’ side event focused on cultural and social issues throughout the Games’ duration.

The session will bring together volunteers from the Olympic Games’ Volunteer Programme and representatives from various non-profit and volunteer-involving organizations, universities and the media. Representing UNV at the event is Mr. Enzo Di Taranto, an expert on peace and human rights issues within the context of volunteerism.

UNV’s efforts to include volunteerism in the Games’ Ethical Village stems from the participation of UNV Executive Coordinator, Mr. Ad de Raad, at the centenary of the founding of the Associazione Nazionale Pubbliche Assistenze (ANPAS), the Italian National Association of Public Assistance Groups, as well meetings with representatives from the Province of Torino and the Torino Organizing Committee, or TOROC.

More than 20,000 volunteers are part of the Winter Games’ Volunteer Programme. The volunteers carry out some 350 activities, from preparing competition tracks to assisting the press, sponsors and athletes.

The session on volunteerism and human rights will take place at the tent structures in Via Verdi, under the Mole Antonelliana (Torino) at 9:30 a.m. on 25 February.

For more information, visit:

Torino Winter Olympic Games; Ethical Village; Idea Solidale and ANPAS

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Based in Bonn, Germany, UNV is the UN organization that supports sustainable human development globally through the promotion of volunteerism, including the mobilization of volunteers. In 2004, more than 7,000 skilled and experienced professionals, 70 percent coming from developing countries, supported peace, relief and development initiatives in some 150 countries. It also engages thousands of other individuals in the work of the United Nations through www.onlinevolunteering.org, and manages the WorldVolunteerWeb, a global volunteering portal that serves as a knowledge resource base for campaigning, advocacy, information dissemination and networking.

For more information, contact:

Enzo Di Taranto, Research and Development
Tel: + 49 (0) 228 815 2213; Email: enzo.di.taranto@unvolunteers.org