01 December 2002

Bonn, Germany: Team IYV
"In 1999 the United Nations Volunteers programme assembled a small team from industrialized and developing countries, funded by Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the European Commission. Guidelines for all stakeholders were formulated, regional and national consultations were supported, promotional items were prepared and disseminated, and a global web site (www.iyv2001.org) was established. An extensive network at the international, regional, national and local levels, which included government officials, civil society representatives, research associates, media partners and private sector companies, was also developed."
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IYV strategy
"The following principles were observed for the Year: it should focus on worldwide national and local observance, with governments and the public determining their own priorities within the overall agreed framework; it should involve all population groups, including those not normally associated with the United Nations or with volunteer programmes; it should focus on all forms of volunteerism and take into account different manifestations among and between industrialized and developing countries; it should launch lasting improvements to voluntary action rather than constitute a one-time occasion; and, while national-level action should be the main focus, there should be supportive action at the international and regional levels, and national policies should be translated into concrete activities at the grass-roots level."
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Outcome
"A major outcome of the Year has been a collective recognition by Governments of the role and contribution of voluntary action and of the need to adopt strategic approaches to enhancing the environment for such action to flourish. Global trends towards greater self-help, decentralization, participatory democracy and networking are all having an impact on citizen participation, and volunteerism is one defining characteristic. The challenge now is to consolidate successes attained, build on the momentum created by the Year and move the volunteer agenda forward."
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Perspectives
"The Year provided indications concerning how to further develop the potential of volunteerism. Three areas of follow-up should be considered. The first is to continue advocacy with Governments and the United Nations system, including in and around intergovernmental forums, wherever volunteerism has a role. The second is to continue promoting citizens' disposition to engage in voluntary action and organizations' effectiveness in taking advantage of volunteer potential. The third is to provide technical cooperation in a range of fields identified during the Year that, together, will lay the basis for a strengthened volunteer movement."
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Advocacy
"Volunteering empowers people. It contributes to building solidarity, encourages participation and ownership, creates networks of reciprocity and reinforces a sense of collective responsibility. It is at the core of the United Nations development goals. A key factor in meeting the aspirations of the Millennium Declaration will be local voluntary involvement in projects and programmes relating to those aspirations. The United Nations system should therefore recognize this involvement and factor it into strategies and operational activities. Recognition of the role of volunteerism should also manifest itself in intergovernmental discussions on economic and social development, in UN publications... and in progress reports on the implementation of the Millennium Summit goals and in follow-up to recommendations of international conferences and summits. Success in advocacy will depend partially on the availability of good data. This strategic area needs to be pursued, including by reflecting voluntary action in national accounts."
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Promotion of volunteerism…
"The Year saw an intensification of the promotion of volunteerism by a very diverse range of stakeholders. Governments, non-governmental organizations, the private sector, the United Nations system, eminent persons and others should continue taking all possible measures to promote voluntary action. Another outcome has been global sharing of information on volunteer issues. Such sharing must be encouraged if volunteerism is to flourish in a globalizing world. The Internet has proved to be a key element in disseminating information about volunteerism and providing a mechanism for networking. Inclusion of the subject of volunteerism in the World Summit on the Information Society would help support this trend. It would be desirable to develop a global Internet volunteer resource, based on the Year's official web site and on the more than 50 national web sites. This would help strengthen existing web sites and encourage the creation of new ones. It would also help advocacy for voluntary action in support of the Millennium Declaration goals."
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… Through Eminent Persons
"Popular figures in the arts, music, literature, sport and other fields were active in promotional efforts. ..."
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"The Secretary-General invited Crown Prince Felipe of Spain, the former President of Ghana, Jerry Rawlings, the founder of the Body Shop, Anita Roddick, and former UNFPA Executive Director Nafis Sadik to serve as Eminent Persons to help publicize the Year." Paragraph 73 - (A/57/352)

"Prince Felipe of Spain was especially active in the Spanish-speaking world and on the subject of youth. …" Paragraph 74 - (A/57/352)

Former President Rawlings focused on promoting volunteerism in the campaign against HIV/AIDS in Africa… .
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"Anita Roddick served as an advocate for corporate volunteering and social responsibility and the complementarity between work and volunteerism. ….

Nafis Sadik focused on the role of volunteerism in the fields of women's rights and health and the need to recognize the contributions of volunteers generally, and women volunteers in particular. … Takehito Nakata, the United Nations Volunteers Honorary Ambassador and an active advocate in Japan for the designation of the Year, promoted volunteerism in visits to Africa, Asia, Latin America and United Nations Headquarters."
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… Through the www
"The official web site was a powerhouse for information-sharing, promotion and global networking. Features included a global calendar, national profiles, organization listings, news, research, policy documents, volunteer stories and promotional materials that could be downloaded and adapted locally. It received almost nine million hits in 2001."
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"In addition to the official web site, more than 50 web sites and web pages were set up at regional, national and state levels. Many have been transformed into permanent national volunteer information and resource portals, as in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Cyprus, Germany, Nepal, South Africa, Thailand and Turkey." Paragraph 79 - (A/57/352)

Networking and partnerships "Networking increased through a variety of mechanisms, including meetings, workshops, training courses, newsletters, web sites and electronic mailing lists. National conferences on volunteerism took place in Benin, Brazil, Cameroon, Chile, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Paraguay, Romania, Togo and Turkey. New Zealand and Romania set up permanent associations of volunteer centres and organizations. Links were strengthened between domestic volunteers and international volunteer-sending organizations at a national conference hosted by Volunteering Australia and Australian Volunteers International; Italy's Federazione Organismi Cristiani Servizio Internazionale Volontario and the United States of America's Peace Corps were members of their countries' National Committees; Japanese Overseas Cooperation Volunteers, the German Deutsche Entwicklungsdienst and the United Kingdom's Voluntary Service Overseas were engaged actively in their host countries - Guatemala, Burkina Faso and Uganda, respectively. In Senegal, the Irish organization Agency for Personal Services Overseas helped bring Irish and Senegalese musicians together in 2001 events."
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"National Committees often showed the best articulation of networking among stakeholders. Membership was often very broad, including volunteer-involving organizations, government, academia, the private sector, members of parliament, faith groups, mass media, international organizations and foundations. In addition to the 123 National Committees, there were more than 500 local, regional and state committees in large metropolises… ."
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"United Nations Volunteers, the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies developed a partnership to raise the visibility of volunteerism at major global events, such as the Second World Assembly on Ageing in Madrid, the XIV International AIDS Conference in Barcelona and the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg."
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Technical cooperation "Considerable strides were made towards enhancing the environment for volunteering. Examples included the drafting of national legislation, the undertaking of volunteer-related research, the establishment of volunteer centres, the formation of national volunteer corps, the development of volunteer opportunities via the Internet and the expansion of corporate volunteering. Enlarging space for voluntary action, including through national and international volunteer assignments in support of United Nations operational activities, is an important means of enhancing the effectiveness of technical cooperation. Expertise resides in a range of stakeholders, including United Nations Volunteers and other United Nations organizations, civil society, academia, the private sector and the media. Various stakeholders should continue seeking ways to effectively channel assistance, including by developing joint initiatives. These must be properly resourced. Support will often be required from national budgets, but all other sources need to be explored."
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A word of gratitude
The United Nations Volunteers programme (UNV) would like to acknowledge the dedicated support of the following Team IYV members, consultants, interns and volunteers: Heidi Barachina, Kami Barut, Francesca Becchetti, Maja Bilandzija, Alessandro Brunton-Lira, Gladys Castañeda, Fabian Cataldo, Brian Cugelman, Cecilia Dionisio, Isaac Oppong Kyekyeku Donkor, Sylvia Fernandez, María Cruz Ferreira, Nishwath Hassan, Marie Eve Homier, Bill Jackson, Marie-Ange Kalenga, Florian Keil, Honoré Kponton, Charles Lawler, Diana Lorenzana, Meritxell Martinez, Kay Merce, Jin Min Lee, Natasha Mistry, Riham Mustafa, Preeta Muthalali, Naohiro Nozaka, Yuko Osawa, Astrid Patsch, Diana Perez-Buck, Noemi Sanchez, Annabel Soizic, Maren Stell, Melda Uenlue, Henri Valot, Maryam Wathanafa, Brian Wendt, Zacharia Wilson and Kaoru Yamagiwa.