United Nations

Office of the UN Resident Coordinator – MALAWI
Tel: (265 1 773-500                  Fax: (265) 1 773-637

International Volunteer Day 2007

UNV's helping Malawi

LILONGWE, 5th December 2007 –“Achieving Sustainable Environment through Community Volunteerism”

“No Tree, No Food” – This was theme of a song sung by a women’s choir that formed part of the entertainment for the 2007 International Volunteer Day celebrations. This choir echoed the feelings of millions of people all over the developing world.

Climate change has been a world concern in 2007 hence efforts to protect the environment have been intensified. The release of the UN Human Development Report (HDR) 2007/2008 has brought to the forefront the issue of Climate Change as a global problem that requires the immediate attention of every body. This report brings attention to the threat posed by Climate Change on the world forecasting a rise in global temperatures by about 2-3º by 2050.

As an agricultural economy, carbon dioxide emissions are a concern in Malawi, however, this is far superseded by the issue of environmental degradation which threatens to affect the productivity of the land and thus the livelihood of the people. As we experience worsening weather conditions each year due to large-scale deforestation, the soil is progressively more exposed to the increasingly harsh elements of the weather.

The 2007 IV Day theme calls for Community Volunteerism to effectively counter and reverse the damaging effects of Climate Change on our environment. Accordingly, the main activity for the IV Day Celebrations was tree-planting, an effective mitigation strategy against Climate Change. The various dignitaries addressing the gathering endorsed the sentiments of the National IVD theme encouraging communities everywhere and especially those in Malawi to begin to foster a spirit a volunteerism to change their world and mitigate Climate Change.

Steven Choo a UNV helps to plant a tree

If encouraged and harnessed, volunteerism can play a significant role in national and international development planning. It is the belief of Volunteer Sending Agencies in Malawi that the MDGs will only be achieved through the voluntary support of millions of people worldwide.
 
5th December is International Volunteer Day (IVD), a day when the entire world commemorates and acknowledges the huge contribution of volunteers to social and economic development towards achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.

The UN Volunteer programme in Malawi formed a coalition with other Volunteer Sending Agencies (VSAs) to coordinate this year’s celebration activities. The VSAs include: United Nations Volunteers (UNVs); Japanese Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCV of JICA); World University Service of Canada (WUSC); United States Peace Corps; Volunteer Services Overseas (VSO). VSA Coalition decided on a venue based on the degree of need represented by a rural community. They chose Nathenje Primary School, in a constituency, south of Lilongwe.

For more information, contact:
Ms. Sungani Zidana, Communications Assistant, UNDP Malawi
(sungani.zidana@undp.org), +265 1 773 500.