International Year of Volunteers
In November 1997, the United Nations General Assembly
proclaimed 2001 as the International Year of Volunteers (IYV). United Nations
Volunteers (UNV) was designated as the international focal point. With its main
objectives of increased recognition, facilitation, networking and promotion of
volunteering, IYV provided a unique opportunity to highlight the achievements
of millions of volunteers worldwide and encouraged more people to engage in
volunteer activity.
The idea for IYV came out from deliberations among several major
international NGOs in the early 1990s. The concept first emerged within the
United Nations system during a Policy Forum held by UNV and United Nations
University (UNU) in
The premise underlying IYV 2001 was that voluntary
service is needed more than ever to tackle problems in areas of social,
economic, cultural, humanitarian and peace-building, and that more people are
needed to offer their services as volunteers. For this to happen, there was a need
for greater recognition and facilitation of volunteer work, more vigorous
promotion of voluntary service, and drawing upon the best initiatives and
efforts -- the "best practice" -- of volunteers, networked to
optimise lessons learned. The designation of an International Year of
Volunteers by the UN General Assembly provided a valuable framework and
established a favourable environment for the growth and more strategic use of
volunteer contributions.
Links
The government of Australia
archived all Australian national and regional IYV 2001 websites.
United Nations Volunteers programme have their own website.
The United Nations Volunteers in cooperation with a
number of organizations have a special website: World Volunteer Web.
All the International Years proclaimed by the General Assembly.
Stamp catalogue
Aruba
Bangladesh
Netherlands
Netherlands Antilles
Niger
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