International Year of Volunteers Plus 10
Encyclopedia
Background
The year 2011 is 10 years since the International Year of Volunteers in 2001. Under General AssemblyGeneral assembly
General assembly may refer to an official meeting of the members of a trade union, church, association, or similar organization, or of their representatives, in particular:-Governing bodies of international organizations:*The United Nations General Assembly...
Resolution 63/153 (2008) the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
called for this anniversary to be marked across the planet.
A range of partners and stakeholders have therefore agreed to promote the values of volunteering, to recognize the positive impacts of volunteering, to build and reinforce volunteering networks, and to facilitate people’s contributions to peace and the Millennium Development Goals
Millennium Development Goals
The Millennium Development Goals are eight international development goals that all 193 United Nations member states and at least 23 international organizations have agreed to achieve by the year 2015...
through volunteering.
The United Nations Volunteers
United Nations Volunteers
The United Nations Volunteers program is a United Nations organization that advocates the role and benefits of volunteerism for development, integrates volunteers into development programmes, and mobilises volunteers for development projects. It was created to be a development partner for UN...
(UNV) programme was designated as the focal point for IYV+10 in order to catalyse action at the national, regional and global levels. As focal point, UNV facilitates spaces for dialogue and act as a conduit for stakeholder voices, while advising on how to deepen and broaden the concept of volunteerism.
Stakeholder mobilization
Under Resolution 63/153, governments, Volunteer-Involving Organizations, the UN system, civil society organizations, businesses, academic institutions and other partners are all called upon to join together under the umbrella of IYV+10 and its objectives.UNV is supporting national volunteering coordination structures; and bringing diverse stakeholders together towards a comprehensive volunteering vision and agenda for 2011 and beyond. UNV is also encouraging linkages between varied national members and partners of the international stakeholders committed to marking IYV+10.
National and international UN Volunteers have been recruited to support work on IYV+10, strengthen links with stakeholders and partners at the national level, and monitor initiatives developed during the Year. Online volunteers are also dedicating time and energy towards supporting IYV+10 initiatives.
Communication, promotion and recognition
UNV administers a website for the whole volunteer community: www.worldvolunteerweb.org. The site is being redesigned, and will feature written and audiovisual content and downloadable tools for all stakeholders to share. Different social mediaSocial media
The term Social Media refers to the use of web-based and mobile technologies to turn communication into an interactive dialogue. Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media as "a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0,...
are also being used to mark IYV+10 all over the world.
A multimedia exhibition will be held in the lobby of the UN Secretariat building in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. Photographs showcasing the contributions of volunteers worldwide will be selected from the contributions of volunteer organizations.
Events
During the first half of 2011, a series of five regional consultation meetings were organized in EcuadorEcuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
(28–20 March), Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
(18–19 April), the Philippines (3–4 May), and Senegal
Senegal
Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...
(30–31 May for Francophone Africa and 6–7 June for Anglophone Africa). These events brought together hundreds of stakeholders from civil society, the private sector, national authorities and academia, UNV Field Units and other United Nations entities.
A global conference on ‘Volunteering for a sustainable future’ will be organized during 15–17 September in Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
in partnership with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is a humanitarian institution that is part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement along with the ICRC and 186 distinct National Societies...
and the International Association for Volunteer Effort (IAVE). The conference will bring together UN member states and Volunteer-Involving Organizations, plus partners from academia and the private sector.
The 64th Annual UN DPI/NGO Conference will be held from 3–5 September hosted by the German government and the city of Bonn
Bonn
Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....
. The event, which usually brings together more than 1,000 NGO and UN delegates from all over the world, provides a chance to advocate for volunteering within the overall theme ‘Sustainable Societies, Responsive Citizens’.
As per General Assembly Resolution 63/153, two plenary sessions of the 66th session of the United Nations General Assembly shall be devoted to the follow-up to the International Year of Volunteers and the commemoration of its tenth anniversary, under the item entitled ‘Social Development’.
The sessions will be organized around International Volunteer Day
International Volunteer Day
International Volunteer Day - is an international observance designated by the United Nations since 1985.The declared aim of this activity is to thank the volunteers for their efforts and increase public awareness on their contribution to society...
on 5 December and will provide an opportunity to highlight the achievements of the year. Recommendations will be presented to policymakers and all stakeholders involved in facilitating volunteering worldwide, with particular attention paid to the contribution of millions of volunteers from all walks of life towards the achievement of the MDGs.