12 February 2004

Bonn/London: The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme and OneWorld have signed an agreement to work together to exchange experience and best practice in the volunteering sector. The benefits of the partnership will "promote volunteerism in every corner of the globe" said UNV Ad de Raad, Executive Coordinator, a.i.

"We want to see the OneWorld Volunteer Editors Programme stand as a shining example of what can be achieved through online volunteering," said de Raad, UNV Executive Coordinator, a.i. "The sharing of knowledge and experience between our institutions, our partners and networks will increase the flow of volunteering related information and by doing so, promote volunteerism in every corner of the globe. Furthermore, it also demonstrates one of the most important aspects of voluntary action, reciprocity."

UNV's platforms -- www.worldvolunteerweb.org and www.onlinevolunteering.org -- will be available to OneWorld to promote and support its Online Volunteer Editors Programme, a project that provides opportunities for volunteers in developing countries to have a voice in the portal www.oneworld.net.

Peter Armstrong, Director of OneWorld International said, "Working with online volunteers is a new territory for OneWorld and UNV has been tireless in providing valuable advice. We are excited by this new prospect of our respective global networks working together to explore the deeper potential that undoubtedly exists".

OneWorld publishes Country Guides edited by online volunteers. Each Volunteer Editor will typically take responsibility for one section of the Guide and contribute regional perspectives to other sections. The principal tasks will be to write short introductory articles, select appropriate links to civil society content and maintain a section of useful resource links.

Volunteer editors should be able to demonstrate thorough knowledge of the topic in a global context, together with awareness of the principal global organizations working in the particular field. Interested volunteers must be a resident of a developing country.

Currently, editors for Colombia, Ghana, Botswana, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Zimbabwe and Nepal are sought.

OneWorld is dedicated to harnessing the democratic potential of the Internet to promote human rights and sustainable development.

Based in Bonn, Germany, UNV is the volunteer arm of the UN system supporting peace, relief and development initiatives in nearly 150 countries. Created by the UN General Assembly in 1970 and administered by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), UNV works through UNDP country offices and a network of international organizations to mobilize more than 5,000 UN Volunteers annually, 70 percent of whom come from developing nations. It also supports thousands of other individuals participating in the work of the United Nations for development as online volunteers. The United Nations General Assembly has designated UNV as focal point for the follow-up to the International Year of Volunteers, a further opportunity to promote the ideals of volunteerism around the world.