The United Nations(UN)’s International Volunteer Day for Economic and Social Development, commonly referred as International Volunteer Day (IVD) is annually celebrated across the globe on 5th December to create awareness about the important contributions of the volunteer services and encourage people to offer their service as volunteers.
The theme of the International Volunteers Day 2020(IVD2020) is “Together We Can Through Volunteering”.
The day is observed and supported by the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme.The day is celebrated by various non-governmental organizations, civil society, and the private sector.
Objective:
To promote volunteerism, encourage governments to support volunteer efforts and recognize volunteer contributions to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at local, national and international levels.
Background:
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted the resolution A/RES/40/212 on 17th December 1985 and proclaimed the 5th December of every year as the International Volunteer Day for Economic and Social Development.
Events 2020:
i.Through the “Together We Can through Volunteering” campaign of the UNV programme showcase the contribution and the impacts of Volunteers during the global pandemic and to recognise their contribution, actions and commitments.
ii.The “blue heart emoji” will be associated with the IVD2020 tagline and support to build the image of the campaign that promotes positivity, solidarity and compassion towards volunteers.
Events of IVD 2020 in India:
i.UNV India along with the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, United Nations Development Programme(UNDP) and other UN Agencies celebrated the IVD2020.
ii.Kiren Rijiju, Union Minister of Youth Affairs & Sports virtually addressed the IVD2020 ceremony to promote volunteerism and recognized volunteer contributions to the achievement of the SDGs.
Key People:
Usha Sharma, Secretary (Youth Affairs), Asit Singh, Joint Secretary (Youth Affairs) attended the event over a virtual platform.
Highlights of the event:
i.The IVD2020 ceremony commenced with the launch of IVD anthem jointly produced by UNV India and UNHCR.
ii.Union Minister Kiren Rijiju announced the list of V-Awardees 2020. The V-awards 2020 was presented to recognise the community outreach efforts of the volunteers.
V-Awardees 2020:
Chetan Pardeshi, Vijayambigai Thulashidos, Nupur Agarwal, Rohan Modi, Yashoda Pandey, Harshit Gupta, Chaitanya Prabhu, Pradeep Sharma, Akriti Gupta, Poorvaprabha Patil received the V-Awards 2020.
About United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme:
Executive Coordinator– Olivier Adam (France)
Administered by– United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
Headquarters-Bonn, Germany
