Remarks by Ad de Raad, Executive Coordinator, a.i.,
United Nations Volunteers on the occasion of the World Summit on the Information Society Geneva, 10-12 December 2003 Read

Geneva, Switzerland: Leaders of international volunteer organizations attending the World Civil Society Forum in Geneva today stressed the need for increased partnership between volunteer stakeholders. Panelists also recognized the leadership role of civil society in strengthening international cooperation. Read

This is our first meeting since we celebrated UNV’s 30th anniversary. So, colleagues and friends, I am here to tell you that there is indeed life after 30! During 2001, more than 5,000 UN Volunteers representing 160 nationalities served in 140 countries around the globe. Even as we speak, they are filling an astonishing array of assignments. Read

Bonn, Germany: The World Wide Web is a collaborative venture and a "creation of volunteers", said Tim Berners-Lee, the British scientist credited for inventing the Web in 1989. Read

Three weeks ago a terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon shook the world. Since then we have struggled to come to grips with images of devastation, suffering and grief which will forever be engraved on our collective memory. But there are also other images that permeate this tragedy, like a shaft of light: the sight of the volunteers who rushed to places of destruction to offer their help. Read

Bonn, Germany: Millions of volunteers in every country of the world read instruments and pass along critical data on local conditions to help track weather patterns each year, noted Sharon Capeling-Alakija, Executive Coordinator of the Bonn-based United Nations Volunteers programme. Read