Statement by Sharon Capeling-Alakija Executive Coordinator, United Nations Volunteers At the High-Level Segment of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations New York, - 7 July 2000

Mr. President, distinguished delegates, colleagues & friends:

I am honored to have the opportunity to tell you about one of the most exciting initiatives for the next millennium, the United Nations Information Technology Service, or UNITeS.

UNITeS is both about volunteering and the new information and communication technologies. Allow me to start with the former.

It is well known that volunteering brings benefits to both society at large and the individual volunteer. It makes important contributions economically, adding significantly to gdp, as well as socially, by building bonds of reciprocity and trust amongst citizens.

The United Nations Volunteers Programme, UNV, is the volunteer arm of the United Nations. it promotes and supports the contributions of volunteers for human development worldwide and serves the causes of peace and development through enhancing opportunities for participation by all peoples. it is universal, inclusive and embraces volunteer action in all its diversity.

But what does volunteering have to do with information and communication technologies, or ICT?

Volunteering and the digital divide
Though UNV already has an e-volunteering strategy, and we power an online volunteering programme through NETAID and UNDP, we also felt that the time was ripe for a major UN-led ICT volunteering programme building on pioneering efforts such as NetCorps Canada. The reason is really quite simple.

On the one hand, as we have heard over and over again this week, there is a pervasive gap in the ability of people and institutions in developing countries to use the new technologies for tangible benefits. Human capacity is one of the critical dimensions of this digital divide.

On the other hand, we believe there are many people in both the north and the south, many of them young, who are willing to get involved in stimulating human capacity to make practical use of these technologies.

So when UN Secretary General Kofi Annan announced in his Millennium Report the establishment of a major volunteer-driven initiative to help developing countries bridge the digital divide, and designated UNV as the lead agency for this effort, we were, to say the least, very excited. UNITeS provides a concrete example of how the un can meaningfully respond to the G77 Havana programme of action that urges the strengthening of our role in transferring knowledge and technology.

We hope that UNITeS will harness the energy and knowledge of thousands of ICT-savvy volunteers and millions of volunteer hours for the application of these technologies to human development.

Characteristics of UNITeS
We are still in the early stages of planning for UNITeS, but we already do know a few things:

UNITeS is to be global, open and diverse.

It will focus on key areas of human development such as education, health, employment generation, e-governance and environment. It will also support humanitarian aid operations.

It will be demand-driven and respond to requests from developing countries, formulated by either public, private or civil society organizations.

It will consist of volunteers from both the north and the south, and south-to-south volunteer placement will be particularly encouraged. The participation of qualified volunteers in their own countries will be a priority.

Online volunteers, contributing through the internet, will also be involved, and will contribute to the sustainability of on-site activities.

UNITeS will function on the basis of partnership among all the members of a coalition that will be established to implement the programme. membership in the coalition will be broad-based and geographically balanced.

UNITeS will be knowledge-based, benefiting from the learnings of its thousands of volunteers, in order to find practical uses and solutions for ICT in human development and it will use top-notch web-based systems infrastructure for efficient and effective management.

Finally, we hope UNITeS will be a catalyst for other similar initiatives, which aim to strengthen the human capacity needed to narrow the digital divide, particularly via the contribution of volunteers.

Making UNITeS a reality
As I said previously, we are still in the early planning stages of UNITeS, but we are moving ahead, I dare say, at "internet speed."

Since the Secretary General's announcement in april, we have been working closely with the office of the Secretary General, the UN fund for international partnerships, UNDP and other key collaborators. A UNITeS web site has been launched, to inform about the initiative and to get those interested involved.

At the beginning of June, we convened an informal working group of international IT experts in Bonn to start drawing out the conceptual and operational basis for the programme. The three-day meeting resulted in a series of recommendations and conclusions, which will underpin further development of the programme. It also defined a series of measures that will enable UNITeS to start a modest operation before the Millennium Assembly in September.

Conclusion
As some of you may already know, 2001 has been designated by the UN as the International Year of Volunteers. IYV2001 has as its four main goals the promotion, facilitation, networking and recognition of volunteers and volunteer contributions around the world.

These goals also apply to UNITeS. I believe that with programmes like UNITeS, volunteering for human development is moving into the information age. volunteering will be one of the components of a comprehensive response to the new challenge expressed by the UN in assuring "access to information and communication services for all."

But UNITeS needs the support of a wide variety of actors and stakeholders. I hope you will find this programme as exciting as I do, because we need your guidance, ideas and, why not say it, your resources as well. but most importantly, we need your participation.

Please help us realize the vision of the Secretary General and make UNITeS a flagship in ICT volunteering for the new Millennium. and remember, volunteerism UNITeS!

Thank you.