The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme has announced the 2004 "Online Volunteers of the Year". The 10 individuals hail from Australia, India, Kenya, the Philippines, Spain, the United States and Zimbabwe and were singled out for their outstanding contributions to organizations in Asia, Africa and Latin America , via UNV's Online Volunteering service.

The 2004 Online Volunteers of the Year, their host organization and nationality are:

• Beatriz Iglesias, of Spain, nominated by the USA-based Shine a Light
• Biswajit Dash, of India, nominated by People with Disabilities in Uganda
• Blandina Musvoto, a Zimbabwean national living in Denmark, nominated by Mgbala Agwa Youth Forum, based in Nigeria
• Claire Suzanne Holland, of the United States, nominated by Bureau for Reconstruction and Development, based in Afghanistan
• Flavia Trevisani, an Italian living in The Netherlands, nominated by the USA-based Lawyers Without Borders
• George Okello Gopal, of Kenya, nominated by the Canadian-based Centre for Research in Women’s Health
• Ian Foster, of Australia, nominated by the British Gwalior Children’s Hospital Charity
• Kalyani Suresh, of India, nominated by the USA-based Professional Education Organization International (PEOI)
• Maria Yvette Reyes, of The Philippines nominated by the Ugandan Centre for Rural Development and Training
• Will R. Wallace, of the United States, nominated by the Canada-based Education Sponsorship Program: Enhancing Communities Together (RESPECT)

Congratulating the Online Volunteers of the Year, Ad de Raad, Executive Coordinator a.i. of the UN Volunteers programme, said: "For the third consecutive year, 10 people have emerged as being particularly outstanding in contributing their time, expertise and creativity to others via the Internet. Their profiles show that volunteering online makes a real difference to communities in the developing world."

Some of the contributions made by these volunteers include:

• Translating hundreds of pages and a CD ROM from English to Spanish on topics such as desertification, HIV/AIDS and street children in Latin America.
• Contributing professional expertise in law, training and organizational consulting to a new Afghan-based organization working to facilitate community development.
• Producing a research report analyzing poverty reduction strategy papers on four Sub-Saharan African countries (Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania and Cameroon) in view of gender and health issues.
• Editing and publishing a newsletter for an organization-serving people with disabilities in India.
• Re-designing a website to make it accessible for people with disabilities who are using assistive technologies.

The OV service allows volunteers around the world to contribute to issues that address the most critical problems facing developing countries. Online volunteers can make a difference from their computers at home, work, university or a community technology center. The Online Volunteers of the Year are just 10 of the more than 15,000 people who have signed up on UNV's OV service [www.onlinevolunteering.org] since its launch in 2000. Online volunteers using this service have helped more than 400 organizations working in 60 countries. Organizations post their online volunteer needs to the OV service, and online volunteers use the sophisticated search tools to find and sign up for assignments that match their skills and interests.

These online volunteers' achievements and experiences are detailed on the OV service web site. Each of these outstanding online volunteers will receive a certificate of recognition and a small gift from the UN Volunteers programme.

Judges for this campaign included staff from UN Volunteers, from NetAid, from OneWorld, and a volunteer management consultant. NetAid hosted UNV's Online Volunteering service from its launch in 2000 until February 2004; when the service moved entirely to UNV, and to its own URL.

The announcement comes on May 17, World Telecommunication Day, named by the UN General Assembly to focus the world’s attention on the strategic role that access to computers, the Internet and other information communications technologies (ICT) are playing in sustainable development efforts.

NetAid (www.netaid.org) is a non-profit organization (501 c3) based in New York City. NetAid's mission is to build a network of people and organizations committed to ending extreme poverty around the world. These programmes include the NetAid World Schoolhouse, NetAid World Class, and NetAid Volunteer Guru. NetAid was founded in 1999 by Cisco Systems and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Based in Bonn, Germany the UN Volunteers programme is the UN organization that supports sustainable human development globally through the promotion of volunteerism, including the mobilization of volunteers. As a part of its activities, each year, UNV provides the opportunity for over 5,500 skilled and experienced professionals, 70 per cent of who are from developing countries, to support peace, relief and development initiatives in some 140 countries. In addition, it engages thousands of other individuals in the work of the United Nations as online volunteers and manages the WorldVolunteerWeb, a global volunteering portal that serves as a knowledge resource base for campaigning, advocacy, information dissemination and networking.

For more information please contact:
info@onlinevolunteering.org