Achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) will require the ingenuity, solidarity, and creativity of millions of ordinary people though voluntary action. Efforts on the part of national governments, supported by the international community, can only complement what ultimately will depend on the full involvement of people all over the world. Six billion people have something to contribute. Recognizing this fact is the first step on the road towards harnessing this vast resource in a global effort to meet the MDG targets.

HIV/AIDS is the leading cause of death in sub-Saharan Africa and number four worldwide. However, countries such as Brazil, Senegal, Thailand and Uganda have shown that the spread of HIV/AIDS and other major diseases can be stemmed. Working primarily at local level with a range of development partners, the UN Volunteers (UNV) programme supports activities aimed at the successful promotion of public health care policy, strengthening institutional capacity for effective service delivery, fostering community participation and ownership, and raising awareness on critical health issues.

UNV’s work in advocating volunteerism focuses on the promotion, recognition, facilitation and networking of volunteer action, including:

Through individual volunteers, the UN Volunteers programme

• Expands the outreach of medical care using innovative approaches such as mobile medical units;
• Supports development partners in preventing and mitigating epidemics;
• Fills vital human resource gaps caused by epidemics such as HIV/AIDS;
• Mobilizes local human resources in response to national public health issues;
• Trains local health care givers to raise the effectiveness of service delivery;
• Trains on the use of information and communication technology (ICT) for effective distribution of information about diseases such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

Through volunteer-involving organizations (VIOs), the UN Volunteers programme

• Helps set up local health committees to promote village health centres and pharmacies;
• Supports local community-based organizations (CBOs) to launch community initiatives critical for health improvements;
• Mobilizes volunteer support for health campaigns;
• Helps CBOs and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) connect with development resources to support local health promotion initiatives.

Through volunteer networks, the UN Volunteers programme

• Promotes public health awareness through the networks of VIOs;
• Supports networks of people living with HIV/AIDS with the aim of sharing experiences about, and knowledge of the epidemic;
• Assists in creating health-related hotlines through VIO networks.