Feature

IYV+10 National Coordinators

Meet our national UNV IYV+10 coordinators, as they share their experiences and stories in making this important year a success. Name: Eunice Dahn Country: Liberia I started working with UNV on 1 May 2011. On 5 August, after months of intense planning, the International Year of Volunteers +10 (IYV+10) was launched in Liberia. The purpose was to create awareness of IYV+10, promote and encourage volunteerism and introduce the Liberia Volunteer Coordination Committee for Development. Activities included a parade in the main streets of Monrovia followed by an indoor programme during which celebrations were officially launched by the Deputy Special representative of the Secretary-General, Moustapha Soumare. After that, a photo exhibition showcasing the work of volunteers in Liberia was held with around 20 organizations participating. Now that the launch is over, we will hold a massive publicity campaign and a nationwide Community Volunteer Service Day in collaboration with the city corporation. After that, we will highlight our activities with an awards programme that seeks to recognize and promote outstanding volunteers in the country and encourage others to volunteer. I think the IYV+10 celebrations in Liberia will be remembered and talked about long after they have ended. We will go out with a BANG!!! In my opinion, being a volunteer means to be engaged in peacebuilding and development. Since 2002, I have been involved in the promotion of volunteerism with many organizations in my country. Those experiences allowed me to understand and to work with others with pleasure. All Ive learnt and done has given me the motivation to volunteer as a national IYV+10 coordinator in my country. My favorite tasks are putting plans into action in difficult contexts, sharing experiences, and communicating what Im doing. This year, a law on national volunteerism was adopted by the National Assembly in February, and on 30 September a national committee for the promotion of volunteerism and the celebration of IYV+10 activities was launched.
Photos: VOSESA

Volunteering together, changing the world

NEWSLETTER | NOVEMBER 2011

I am because you are

Photos: UNV

Name: Roland Dodji Folly-Gbegnon Country: Togo I joined the Togo UNV unit as national UNV IYV+10 Coordinator in April 2011.

By Karen Silva Inspired by the Ubuntu philosophy, which emphasizes the interconnectedness between individuals and their communities, members of the southern African volunteerism movement gathered in Johannesburg to discuss the contribution of volunteer action to regional development.

Acknowledgements
With special thanks and appreciation to the design team (Felipe Leon, Mario Andrs Castro, Raquel Montejano, Mara Cruz Simn, Helen Lung), as well as the continued support for the tenth anniversary of the International Year of Volunteers provided by CIDA, the European Commission, the Governments of Germany and Japan, and White Helmets Argentina.

Press play for volunteerism

Internationally acclaimed singer and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Anglique Kidjo has dedicated her song Agolo to volunteers from all corners of the world. A volunteer herself, through this gesture Ms. Kidjo wants to recognize the efforts of millions of people changing lives for the better and show the whole world that volunteerism really matters. Agolo is soon to be part of every volunteers playlist! Check it out: http://worldvolunteerweb.org/iyvplus10/

About 170 volunteers, policymakers, supporters and practitioners of volunteering participated in Octobers Southern Africa Conference on Volunteer Action for Development (supported by VOSESA, UNV and partners). They celebrated and recognized the importance of volunteerism by adopting a joint declaration, which represents the spirit of the tenth anniversary of the International Year of Volunteers (IYV+10) in the region. Although frequently related to the Ubuntu way of life, volunteering is still not sufficiently supported as a tool for development and peace in all of southern Africa. Therefore the declaration especially acknowledges the role of volunteers in the battle

against poverty and illness in poor communities. In the document, the authors also urge governments and public institutions, as well as private organizations, to establish an enabling environment for volunteering and civic engagement by fostering policies and sharing good practices. The declaration aims to support the draft Resolution on volunteering that will be presented to the UN General Assembly on 5 December in New York. To download a copy of the Southern Africa Conference Declaration, please visit http://www.worldvolunteerweb.org/ iyv-10/resources/declarations.html.

Volunteers hit 30,000 likes on Facebook and 700 followers on Twitter, but we need more to show the world volunteerism matters! Follow us on http://www.facebook.com/ unvolunteers and www.twitter.com/ volunteerplus10

Photo: Nigel Garvey

All the IYV+10 Newsletters, along with any related resources and promotional material, are available on www.worldvolunteerweb. org. The IYV+10 Newsletters are designed for national and international stakeholders and partners, UNV field units and UNV staff committed to marking IYV+10 in their respective capacities.

Feature
I made their sorrows my sorrows and their joys my joys
Volunteer story: Erika Garcia helped a family from a poor community in Venezuela build their first home.
I live in Caracas, a city where two extreme realities coexist in the same space: but without trying to meet each other or even be recognized as equals. Despite having lived 23 years in this city - where poverty is evident because it cannot be hidden - the first time I visited a vulnerable community was in December 2010 through Un Techo para mi Pas (A Roof for my Country). The hardest part of that meeting was to recognize that my own indifference and passivity made me responsible for a profound and shocking reality. After a few months, the construction of a home allowed me to work shoulder to shoulder with a family from that first community I had visited. Closely living to a reality so different from mine was a milestone in my life. I began to recognize in that family something from my own family. I made their sorrows my sorrows and their joys my joys, and suddenly I was tied to a feeling so strong that it cannot be described. For me, volunteering is a cheerful sadness: it is a commitment but also a freedom, a passion and a responsibility. It is the recognition of knowing that even something as important as building a home is more than enough to build a more just country, and we should do more and do it better. It represents being part of change and feeling that change is possible; it is a feeling of infinite joy but also of sadness that somehow overcomes me and motivates me to continue working. It is to question who I am and who I desire to be. It is to reaffirm every day that service is synonymous with joy, even when I find sadness on my road. Volunteering is a way of life, and also the best way to live, because it allows me to dream and work for a Venezuela without poverty. Learn more about the project A Roof for my Country: http://www.untechoparamipais.org/

News
Volunteers on their bikes in Timor-Leste
UN Volunteers have got on their bikes to promote Timor-Leste as a country of peace.
President Ramos-Horta and the Government of Timor-Leste in September 2011 held the third annual Tour de Timor. Numerous private companies and aid organizations supported the event, sending messages of peace and stability, gender equality, health and nutrition, and volunteerism to riders and spectators. Every year, the competition brings together over 400 riders with both national and international communities taking part in the sixday, 500-kilometre challenge. To inaugurate the event, 200 children and a few professional riders took their bicycles on a non-competitive Ride for Peace. UNV, together with Australian Volunteers International (AVI) and Alola Foundation (a local NGO advocating for womens rights), set up a volunteer information tent and hosted activities to promote volunteerism. Children gathered round as national UN Volunteers distributed orange fans and rubber wristbands with the message I volunteer for TimorLeste to those who took part in a quiz on volunteerism. The answers to the quiz were in a brochure that the children had to read through carefully, to find answers and to learn about volunteerism. Another big attraction at the volunteer tent were international volunteers making balloon animals, bringing smiles to many faces. All inauguration event activities focused on Timorese youth, while UNV and the tenth anniversary of the International Year of Volunteers (IYV+10) had national volunteers serve as examples of volunteer participation in Timor-Leste. After the Ride for Peace, the Tour de Timor was officially opened the next day. For six days, riders and local volunteer coordinators travelled across the country inspiring people.

Photo: A Roof for my Country

News in Brief: Second World Youth Summit

Youth from all corners of the globe gathered in Colombia to explore ways to increase social inclusion and civic participation through volunteer service. Hosted by Partners of the Americas in cooperation with the university UNINORTE, the second World Youth Summit took place from 3-5 November in Barranquilla, Colombia. The Summit in Colombia was IAVEs cornerstone event to close the tenth anniversary of the International Year of Volunteers. It gathered about 700 young volunteers, as well as distinguished international speakers, forum leaders and presenters from NGOs, governments and the corporate sector to share knowledge and experiences on volunteerism. For more information see: http://bit.ly/nJ8SWb or contact Partners at IAVE2011@partners.net

CIVICUS publishes findings on volunteerism

The CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation recently completed a survey on volunteerism around the world. The 2008-2011 CIVICUS Civil Society Index (CSI) presents a comprehensive analysis of civil society in 35 countries, measuring the level of volunteering in each one of them based on peoples participation and activism. Looking specifically at voluntary action and trends in nine countries Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Morocco, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, Togo and Zambia - the CSI findings present a picture of volunteering on the African continent that is shaped by cultural, historical, socio-economic and political dynamics. Even though Africa is not a homogeneous entity, across countries and cultures, the study shows that patterns of volunteering are quite similar throughout the continent. With limited documentation specifically on volunteer trends in Africa, these findings have brought to light the value of volunteering in building social capital, its potential to encourage civic activism, and the heavy reliance of organized civil society on voluntary work. To read the study, visit: http://bit.ly/qdzmBQ

Photos: UNV