UNITeS Update - 20 April 2001
The level of activity related to UNITeS is picking up, as is the interest
expressed by many institutions and individuals. UNITeS is gradually
moving from its pilot phase towards full implementation, which will
start in the last months of the year. Work is continuing on various
fronts to establish a solid basis for the initiative, with two areas
being the focus of present efforts: (1) establishing a series of partnerships
(some of them around specific projects, and some on the overall "facility"
concept of UNITeS), and (2) mobilizing the necessary means and resources
to support operational requirements (most importantly, to help volunteer
placement). Information about these is included below. Other areas of
activities are listed as:
- The e-Volunteering unit at UNV, where the UNITeS team is placed,
was constituted in mid-February. This unit will deal with both onsite
and online ICT volunteering, since we expect online volunteers to
play an important role in UNITeS support.
- The new UNITeS web site, version 2.0, is slated to be launched
in the next couple of weeks, approximately one year after the was presented (when UNITeS was first
announced), so it is ready for the 3rd United Nations Conference on
the Least Developed Countries in Brussels (14-20 May).
- Forty volunteers assignments have been programmed since the in September, when the pilot phase started. Based on present
forecasts, we expect that number to possibly double by the summer
of 2001.
Expanding the number and diversity of partnerships
A lot of effort is being dedicated to weaving a web of partnerships,
a fundamental aspect of UNITeS support. Much of the success of the initiative
rides on an active network of committed institutions.
One way to develop partnerships is in the context of specific projects.
We´re developing a project pipeline that can illustrate the type of
contributions that UNITeS will be able to make. This, in turn, should
help to attract institutions and resources. include:
- Establishment of a network of Community Telecenters in Jordan, in
partnership with the Royal Government of Jordan and UNDP (Volunteers
affiliated with UNITeS have participated since the first of these
telecenters were launched in September 2000)
- Least Developed Countries Initiative of Cisco Systems/UNDP. A group
of volunteers is being recruited for 20 countries, to start working
in June.
- ICT support to health and agricultural activities undertaken by
the New Nigeria Foundation, with the Government of Nigeria, UNDP,
Citizens International and the Lagos Business School.
- Project with the NGO Equal Access on "Empowering Women and Girls
in Poor Communities through Information Delivery and Dialogue", using
digital radio broadcasting and receivers.
- Assistance on e-commerce for SMEs, with UNCTAD and ITU
- Institutional capacity building on ICT for the East Timorese Administration,
with UNDP and UNTAET (the UN transitional authority in that country).
- World Links for Development, with the World Bank, to integrate ICT
tools for enhanced learning in secondary schools and allow them to
communicate with other schools around the world (Volunteers affiliated
with UNITeS already involved in Botswana).
In addition, we´re defining how UNITeS may collaborate with WHO in
the Health Internetworking project, and with Ericsson and OCHA in the
"First on the Ground" project (also announced in the as "digital bridges" initiatives)
There is a growing number of institutions expressing interest in participating
in UNITeS, and asking for ways in which these contributions can concretize.
Among them are private companies, which are exploring the possibility
of win-win situations around the power and appeal of Volunteering for
human development (until recently not easily associated with the private
sector). UNITeS will provide an exciting vehicle for "corporate volunteering",
a relatively new window in volunteering for international development.
We´re presently discussing possibilities with a small number of major
ICT companies on that area.
Universities represent another type of possible partnerships under
the UNITeS umbrella. There is significant potential for engaging students
and faculty in activities supported under the UNITeS umbrella. was the first one to sign
an agreement (on 12 March) by which somewhere between 10-20 students
will collaborate during the summer of 2001 in a small number of UNITeS-supported
projects, as a pilot undertaking. Talks are also underway with the Autonomous
University of Madrid (UAM) and the Open University of Catalonia (UOC).
Initial experiences during 2001 will serve to expand academic partnerships
with UNITeS on a sustained basis for the future.
UNITeS is also being presented as a practical mechanism for major ICT
for Development initiatives, like the UN ICT Task Force or the G8 DOT
Force, to harness the contributions of volunteers. Given the extensive
array of activities these initiatives are expected to generate, Volunteers
affiliated with UNITeS can contribute in capacity-building functions
across the range of thematic areas in development in which such initiatives
will be active.
Securing resources
Demand for UNITeS support continues to come from the field, at a
higher rate than available resources. The word is certainly out already!
In order to satisfy even a portion of the demand, fresh resources are
required, and we´re investigating potential sources. In order to simplify
ways to contribute financially, a UNITeS Open Trust Fund is being set
up by UNV. The Fund is governed by standard UN rules and regulations,
and makes it easy for countries or institutions to provide financial
resources. UNV already manages a number of other UN Trust Funds.
Japan has recently announced a financial contribution to UNITeS for
2001, the second one by a major donor after Finland (in December 2000).
In addition, Japan is funding a project in Bhutan that comes under the
UNITeS umbrella. San Marino has recently announced its intention to
provide resources as well in the very near future. Other bilateral donors
are being approached at present.
Dialogue is also underway with some important Foundations, like the
, to establish specific UNITeS facilities
to support their portfolio of projects through applications of ICT to
Development.
UNITeS in the news
- Margot Szamier, from UNV´s Regional Office in North America
(located in New York), addressed the MIT-Africa Internet Technology
Initiative Conference "Bridging the Digital Divide: the Role of Students"
on 6 April 2001. She discussed the opportunities for the contributions
of ICT volunteers which UNITeS and UNV/Netaid.org Online Volunteering
offer.
- Jayne Cravens, from the e-Volunteering unit at UNV, was a
featured speaker in the "New Technologies: the Future of Employee
Volunteering?" Conference, sponsored by UK's National Center
for Volunteering and the Employees in the Community Network. Held
on 2 April 2001, in London, she talked about how UNITeS and UNV/Netaid.org
Online Volunteering offer new channels for corporate volunteering.
- The contributions of UNITeS UN Volunteers in the Indian state
of Orissa as part of the rehabilitation efforts after the 1999
Super Cyclone was publicly recognized by both the UN Secretary General,
Mr. Kofi Annan (17 March 2001) and the UNDP Administrator,
Mr. Mark Malloch Brown (14 February 2001) during their recent
visits to the country.
- Terra Viva, the daily journal of IPS (International Press
Service) talked about UNITeS in an article dated 22 January 2001 written
on the occasion of a meeting on the digital divide in Dubai
organized by the OECD.
- The UN Secretary General, Mr. Kofi Annan, made special reference
to UNITeS during the official launching ceremony in New York of
the International Year of Volunteers 2001 (28 November 2000),
saying that it constitutes an example of the exciting new areas that
volunteerism can venture into.
