SECRETARY-GENERAL RECOGNIZES THOSE WHO SERVE OTHERS SELFLESSLY, IN MESSAGE FOR INTERNATIONAL VOLUNTEER DAY, 5 DECEMBER
Press Release
SG/SM/6413
OBV/30
SECRETARY-GENERAL RECOGNIZES THOSE WHO SERVE OTHERS SELFLESSLY, IN MESSAGE FOR INTERNATIONAL VOLUNTEER DAY, 5 DECEMBER
19971204 Following is the text of a message by the Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the occasion of International Volunteer Day, 5 December.Today, I would like people everywhere to reflect for a moment on what a world without volunteers would look like. There would be no hospital helpers, no parent-teacher associations, no blood donors, no community-based activities. The world would be a harder, colder, poorer place.
The individual gesture to help another is the spirit of international cooperation in a microcosm. Volunteerism builds bridges within and between communities -- between richer and poorer, between older and younger, between government and governed, between public and private. Volunteering is common to all civilizations; it transcends all borders.
Through the United Nations Volunteers programme, 4,000 men and women of 125 nationalities take time out from their careers every year to share their knowledge and expertise. Ranging from accountants to foresters, they are active in more than 130 developing countries, helping people to help themselves. They are involved in grass-roots projects, relief work, operations for peace-building and democracy, electoral work and human rights. They are also, in the truest sense of the word, ambassadors of the United Nations at the grass-roots level.
Every day, men and women around the world give selflessly of their time and effort to help others. The deed itself and the results hoped for are their own reward. But on this day, dedicated to volunteers everywhere, they deserve to be reminded of our recognition and our gratitude. I am glad to offer them mine in the fullest measure.
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