23 March 2001

Early last year I received a letter from the World Meteorological Organization which came as a surprise--a most pleasant surprise. Let me explain. UNV in its role as focal point for the international year of volunteers, we call it IYV 2001, had called for proposals from UN organizations for marking the year. Much to my astonishment, the most enthusiastic response to the decision of the UN General Assembly to designate 2001 the year of the volunteer, came from WMO. It was only as I read through the letter that I began to realize how heavily forecasters rely on volunteers.

I learned that the WMO depends on millions of volunteers in every country of the world--including legions of farmers and fishermen--who read instruments and pass along critical data on local conditions. I got to know that important meteorological stations are often in remote areas--so the volunteers' task can be very demanding.

I understood that while satellites and other sophisticated technologies provide a great deal of information, meteorologists also need to know what is happening in the real world. And I learned the term they have for it: ground truth. And to obtain this ground truth - they need help from volunteers.

It's a powerful metaphor--ground truth.

Probably the most important ground truth that volunteer meteorologists bring home to us is that all of us, wherever we may find ourselves, share a single planet. Our fates are linked. It is this very same fundamental truth that lies at the heart of volunteerism. Just as natural disasters know no national borders, the sense of solidarity that inspires volunteer action also transcends regional, cultural and religious boundaries. Voluntary associations are an integral part of the local customs and traditions of peoples around the globe. Whether called minga in the Andes, barangay in the Philippines, or touiza in Algeria, they are schemes for mutual support. In Kenya, these groups share the name harambee which means "pull together". In today's rapidly globalizing world, we can anchor volunteerism in the legacy of these local schemes so that citizen action becomes a unifying force to tackle issues of worldwide concern.

In the thirty years of UNV's existence, many hydrologists, aeronautical forecasters and oceanographers have contributed to the success of WMO initiatives as UN volunteers. Yet many more among the almost 5,000 UNVs who each year serve the causes of world peace and development have joined forces with WMO's volunteers--and probably without even knowing it: while volunteer meteorologists collect data in support of the struggle to stem desertification, UN volunteers lead reforestation efforts in arid regions. And where volunteer storm spotters are on the alert against cyclones and tornados, UNVs are first on the ground when natural disaster strikes.

Right now, 20 UN Volunteers are coordinating emergency relief efforts in Mozambique. Some 80,000 people had to flee their homes following the recent floods that hit the southern African country with full force again this year.

After the devastating earthquake in the Indian State of Gujarat, 35 UN Volunteers are sharing tents with villagers whose homes have been reduced to rubble. They help remove heaps of debris, organize shelter and counsel those traumatized by the loss of loved ones and their livelihoods.

Likewise, in Central America, UN Volunteers were amongst the first relief workers in El Salvador to assist the victims of the January earthquake. And when Hurricane Mitch left a trail of destruction in its wake two years ago, it was a UNV in Honduras who mobilized more than 100 local volunteers and coordinated their efforts in providing food and water, shelter and basic medical assistance to those who had lost their homes.

Weather phenomena, it seems, help us gauge volunteer impact. People see the urgent need for action. They join forces, they choose to make a difference.

Choose is the key word. One of the first things I learned when I went to Bonn as UNV Executive Coordinator was our German name "Freiwilligen Programm der Vereinten Nationen." Listen carefully -- freiwilligen -- free will. Ours, it turns out, is an organization of "free willers." For me that translation brought home a truth that is there but less obvious in the English usage: at the heart of volunteerism is volition.

Yet I am struck by how often we take for granted the everyday heroism of ordinary people who choose to lend a helping hand when there is need. I am struck by how awkward it is, in public life, to speak about caring; how quickly we skim over our deepest values for fear of sounding sentimental, naïve, or simply unprofessional. And I am struck by the obvious but often overlooked fact that in our increasingly age-segregated societies, it is through volunteering that people reach across the generations.

The International Year of Volunteers provides us with the unique opportunity to change this and to get volunteers off the sidelines to centre court. And we are confident that 2001 will bring long-term benefits for volunteerism in all its manifestations around the world.

As the focal point for the year, UNV's role is to ensure the universality of IYV activities. To date, the global outpouring of energy and creativity as we prepared for the year has been beyond our wildest dreams. National committees in 119 countries as well as in many states and cities--have raised the banner of IYV 2001 to celebrate volunteerism in myriad ways and in many places.

As an example, let me make special mention of Brazil, which has made IYV 2001 quite literally a space odyssey. In December, a rocket blasted off from natal, bearing a special tribute to all volunteers. Inspired by Neil Armstrong, the message reads: "volunteer: a tiny human gesture, an immense contribution to humanity." The actual launch coincided with the metaphoric launch of IYV 2001. And the rocket will help to advance research in microgravity, and support construction of the world's largest space laboratory.

Another role of UNV is to keep the issue of volunteerism on the United Nations agenda, recognizing the important contributions volunteers make in support of the entire UN system.

I want to pay special tribute to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who is the first Secretary-General in 56 years to speak substantively on the subject of volunteerism as he did at the opening ceremony of IYV 2001 at the United Nations headquarters last 28 November.

Recently, UNV facilitated a discussion on volunteerism by Member States, at the Commission on Social Development, and we will continue to draw out the volunteer dimension at UN global events throughout 2001 concerning issues such as the rights of the child, women and peacekeeping, youth, HIV/AIDS, habitat and racism.

Most of all, we look forward to the General Assembly plenary sessions on volunteerism and IYV, on 5 December 2001- International Volunteer Day.

One way of measuring the momentum that the International Year of Volunteers is creating is the IYV web site managed by UNV. Over the past two years, the number of monthly hits on the site has increased by nearly 4,400 per cent, from 18,000 to 790,000. At the same time, the number of online contacts continues to rise daily as volunteer organizations add their names to the IYV country profiles. To date, more than 13,000 individual volunteers and organizations worldwide have registered online. What's more, thanks to the work of many people in academia, we are assembling a larger, multidisciplinary research base related to all aspects of volunteerism.

As you can see, 2001 promises to be an exciting, full year. But, I hasten to add, this is no time for any of us to rest on our laurels. We are still just at the beginning of the International Year. We now need good strategies and effective implementation. Because volunteerism can be powerful -- or unfocused. It can produce vital results --- or merely good PR. It can be transformational -- or merely recreational. It requires inspired leadership, strong coordination, good training, rigorous evaluation and a supportive infrastructure.

If volunteerism is to be transformational in coming years, if it is to cement societies together, if it is to be a unifying force beyond national boundaries, it needs to figure more prominently in public policy and gain recognition as a valuable, and valued, form of activity. The work of volunteers needs to be honoured and celebrated. We need to affirm that caring matters.

We all want active citizenship and caring communities. The challenge is to turn on its head the conventional wisdom of "thinking globally and acting locally". We now must also "think locally and act globally" to create a world community whose members reach across borders to share a common concern for one another's well being. In short, we must live up to the most important ground truth brought to us by the volunteer meteorologists: that we share a single planet. And that our fates are linked.

Thank you.