Remarks By Sharon Capeling-Alakija, Executive Coordinator United Nations Volunteers

Geneva, 16 July 2002—World Civil Society Forum

Audio

Fellow Volunteers,

It is with great pleasure today to address this important gathering of civil society and non-governmental organizations at the world civil society forum. Together we lend our support to this meeting that will strengthen cooperation between international organizations, such as ours, of the UN Volunteers, and civil society. Fundamentally, we are all here in search of improving the way we foster development. And there can be no development without people. In the words of the millennium report, “no shift in the way we think or act can be more critical than this: we must put people at the centre of everything we do.”

There is no doubt that the participation of people is at the centre of what we do at the United Nations Volunteers Programme. As the volunteer-arm of the UN system, UN Volunteers promotes volunteerism as a development concept. It does so by building on a culture of volunteerism and by mobilizing skilled, dedicated people – on site and on line – to devote their time and knowledge in the pursuit of sustainable development. In 2001, the United Nations volunteers mobilized more than 5,000 volunteers from 160 nationalities, to serve in 140 countries. The majority of UNV Volunteers are nationals of developing countries, who serve outside their home countries. Thus the programme represents a concrete form of south-south cooperation.

You may ask yourselves where is the link here with civil society organizations. It would not be accurate to equate the civil society with volunteering, but we should be mindful on the fact that the growing international civil society is based at least in part on voluntary action. There are, admittedly, definitional differences between scholar’s efforts to distinguish amongst civil society organizations, the “third sector”, the “voluntary sector”, NGOs, civil society organizations and so forth. Most would accept, however, that the majority of organizations placed in these overlapping categories do include some element of voluntary labour. Volunteers are the key element in the leadership of the sector both in a formal sense, as well as in terms of the ideas and experiences they bring to the particular organization.

And it is against this background that we at UN Volunteers feel so closely associated with many of you. Arguments are sometimes made that international and multi-national institutions wield power but that they are not readily accessible to citizens and their organizations. UN Volunteers is however one programme that by the very nature of its philosophy provides a window for the global citizen to get involved and to become engaged in peace and development activities of the United Nations organization.

As many of you may be aware, the United Nations development programme alongside other partners have launched a debate on the values and practices of technical cooperation and capacity development. The objective of this review is to better understand the successes and failures of technical cooperation, to assess the readiness for change by those involved including donors, recipients and the development industry and to explore alternatives and options for developing lasting indigenous capacities.

This initiative is an open forum inviting those representatives of the many sectors of society, from the north to the south, from a global constituency of development researchers and practitioners, from academic circles and from those in the field. The on-going debate is helping the UN to review the strengths and weaknesses of technical cooperation.

Within this context, the UN Volunteers has endeavoured to highlight the role of volunteerism and volunteers – international, national, local – in technical cooperation. In this debate, UN Volunteers advocates the value of volunteerism and the important economic contributions that it makes to society as well as its role in creating social cohesion. Indeed, current reflections on volunteer action broadens perceptions both in the north and the south about what volunteerism entails, and demonstrates how volunteer action can play a key role in capacity-building.

Let me share with you just a few of the key values and characteristics associated with volunteerism that I believe contribute to the process of capacity building.

• The commitment and solidarity of volunteers
• The belief in collective action for the public good
• The commitment to human rights and gender equity
• The value accorded to facilitation and communication as essential components in the development process
• The reciprocity of exchanging skills and experiences,
• The recognition of the importance of drawing on local knowledge and expertise
• The strengthening of networks, and
• The empowerment and engagement of communities and individuals through social mobilisation

These values and attributes are increasingly being recognised as a powerful force for development by our UN partners. There are many examples of United Nations programmes partnering with local volunteers and volunteer-based organizations to achieve common goals.

One such example was the successful polio immunization programme of 550 million children in India in 2000. Some 10 million volunteers were involved in this WHO/UNICEF led programme. The many thousands of volunteers provided through organisations such as rotary international played a vital role = but we must not lose sight of the many millions of local people who volunteered their time often with little, or no, recognition. The total value of their contribution is estimated by WHO to have exceeded us $10 billion, a figure well beyond the reach of the governments or the UN. Whether volunteers are involved in operational work on the ground such as the example of the polio campaign, in advocacy in support of un causes such as gender or the environment, or in fund raising such as the efforts of UNICEF’s national committees, without their committed contributions the impact of the un would be considerably diminished.

In the area of peacekeeping, volunteers play a critical role in rebuilding and restoring trust in societies emerging from crisis. In east Timor, for example, international UN Volunteers and local volunteers worked side by side in conducting civic education campaigns, registering voters, and supervising the elections. In recognition of the particular value-added that volunteers bring to such operations, UN Volunteers will now form an integral component of United Nations peacekeeping operations involving civilian personnel.

As you know, the UN Volunteers, was designated the focal point for the International Year of Volunteers (IYV) 2001 by the UN general assembly. In this context, our role has been and will continue to be one that ensures increased recognition of volunteerism and its contributions to economic and social development; greater appreciation of the importance of civic engagement; the strengthening of volunteer networks; and the raising of volunteerism on national and international agenda. We at UN Volunteers see ourselves as a link – a bridge if you will – between traditional volunteerism in the north and in the south, between traditional and modern expressions of volunteerism and between volunteers from the older and the younger generations.

As we look to the future, one of the biggest challenges facing the international community is how we can work together to achieve the millennium development goals. Financing improvements in education and health, for instance, will require significantly increased aid flows. But as already noted, mass literacy and immunization campaigns can only succeed with the efforts of millions of local people through traditional systems of mutual aid and self-help as well as through more modern forms of service volunteering and campaigning. And the value-added of volunteerism lies not only in "getting the job done" it also enhances the quality of the action, increases the likelihood for sustainability of the results, and adds to a nation’s social capital. Harnessing this untapped potential will be key in meeting the millennium targets.

Over the course of the Conference you will be in dialogue on topics including education, the environment, health, human rights, and peace. The voice and actions of the organizations you represent play an important role in ensuring a vibrant and effective cooperation. At the same time, the spirit of volunteerism underpins much of your work. What is fundamental to the successes of development are the scores and the free will of volunteers who make it happen.

We look forward to working closely with you, as much as we hope that you will want to work with us. We strongly believe that the total is more than just the sum of its parts.

Thank you.