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Newsletter
June 2011
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THIS MONTH'S TOPICS
1. FROM THE SERVICE: UNV Online Volunteering Award 2011: Nominations now open
2. EXPERIENCE: Supporting advocacy for forest conservation in the International Year of Forests
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1. FROM THE SERVICE: UNV Online Volunteering Award 2011: Nominations now open
The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme is calling for nominations for the UNV Online Volunteering Award 2011. The purpose of this award is to recognize online volunteers’ contributions to achieving peace and development.
The award will be presented to ten online volunteers or teams of online volunteers. UNV will tell their stories to the world, showcasing the many ways in which volunteers can strengthen the capacities of organizations and make a difference to peace and development projects by sharing their time, skills and expertise over the Internet.
Nominations may be submitted until 31 July 2011. The online collaboration must date back less than two years, and must have been facilitated through the UNV Online Volunteering service. For detailed information and to access the nomination form, please go to About the award.
The winners of the award will be announced on International Volunteer Day (IVD), 5 December 2011.
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2. EXPERIENCE: Supporting advocacy for forest conservation in the International Year of Forests
Sustainable forest management can contribute significantly to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. The United Nations General Assembly declared 2011 as the International Year of Forests to raise awareness on sustainable management, conservation and development of forests.
The UNESCO World Heritage Forest programme works to ensure that the World Heritage Convention is leveraged to strengthen the conservation of forests within World Heritage sites. 22 online volunteers from 11 countries supported the programme in advocating for forest conservation in the context of the International Year of Forests.
By researching, analyzing, summarizing and mapping information, online volunteers contributed to the "State of World Heritage Forests" report and helped to build several databases of information related to World Heritage Forests. The report and databases will be made available on the World Heritage Forest programme’s webpage with the aim to increase the general appreciation of the value of forests as well as to empower forest conservation stakeholders in different parts of the world to better support the World Heritage Convention’s objectives.
Marc Patry and Romy Horn, who coordinated the volunteers at UNESCO, say: “During the last months we were able to assemble a large amount of information thanks to the contribution of these online volunteers. With their work, they supported the on-going conservation of World Heritage Forest sites in the framework of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention.”
Saumya Jetley is part of the group of volunteers who compiled and collated World Heritage Committee decisions and State of Conservation Reports. Having travelled extensively in her home country India, the Software Engineer finds “it is really saddening to see the beautiful natural and cultural sites die a slow death due to the littered garbage, pollution and improper maintenance and care. Through this task, though indirectly, I have attempted to render my services for the cause of environment and its myriad gifts to us human beings.”
Shweta Ramdas, an Indian researcher and student of bioinformatics who worked on the same project, appreciated the flexibility of online volunteering as much as the opportunity to expand her knowledge: “Volunteerism was always an important part of school and university life. I found it frustrating that I couldn't continue with most of my projects once I started working due to less flexible hours. I started looking for online volunteering opportunities and onlinevolunteering.org was an incredibly useful portal. I've certainly learnt a lot about the issues that go into legislations on conservation, and how inter-connected issues are. The civil war in Congo, for example, has had to be taken into account into every report on parks in that region.”
Chamila Yacoub, a student of Biology and Public Health in France who helped with the identification of critically endangered species in World Heritage Forest sites, especially appreciated the opportunity to work with people from different countries and backgrounds. Apart from the UNESCO staff in France, she has been in contact with a member of the Simangaliso Wetland Park Authority in South Africa, as well as with the other online volunteers from across the world, whom she met through the discussion forum UNESCO set up in order to foster exchange amongst the volunteers who worked on the same project. Chamila also “discovered a wide range of plant and animal species that I didn’t know at all. I could see that many species were endangered and I realize the important efforts we have to make to protect them.”
Mark Rujumba, a young website administrator from Uganda, shares the same experience: ”It was after participating in this task that I got a great appreciation for plants and animals, even those in my own neighborhood that are at risk of getting endangered. And it is an honour to use my humble skill set to contribute to the noble cause of this organization: in this way, I feel like I'm giving back to the world.”
For Jae Hyeon Park from the Republic of Korea, who is currently finalizing his Master's degree in Architectural/Urban heritage conservation, the task of analyzing and summarizing data for the World Heritage Forests database was the perfect match to his expertise. "It allowed me to enlarge my knowledge to the environmental areas and understand more about UNESCO’s participation in natural heritage at the global level. Above all, however, what I have benefited this time is the pleasure of volunteering with professionalism. I am willing to engage in other opportunities in which I can contribute to humankind by sharing my expertise.”
Nicholas Flack is from Australia and holds a Master in International Affairs. He was working on activities for the International Year of Forests in Australia with the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) in Canberra when he came across the opportunity to help identify forested areas in the list of UNESCO Cultural Heritage sites. Through the collaboration with UNESCO, Nicholas “...found out about important forests and national parks in Australia. This helped me better prepare for my work on International Year of Forests and help identify places of interest for a student photographic excursion to the Tasmanian Wilderness which was organised in conjunction with the Year's celebrations.”
