In the context of preparations for the International Year of Volunteers 2001, the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programmer and its partners are conducting research on the role of volunteers in social development. You can find some of the studies already done by UNV partners on the Research and Policy section of the IYV web site www.iyv2001.org.

The UNV wishes to tackle the role of volunteers in the alleviation of social exclusion (study entitled " Volunteering and Social Cohesion "). This study will focus on the institutional, governmental and non-governmental responses to social exclusion through volunteering. In particular, it will deal with youth, especially unemployed youth, but will cover the disabled, older persons and ethnic minorities. It will highlight initiatives against social discrimination and will list significant volunteer projects at the multi-cultural and intergenerational levels. The projects mobilizing socially excluded persons as volunteers will be closely examined.

This study will contribute to the current research on the role of volunteers in social development and will also underpin a series of recommendations to be formulated in a workshop. These recommendations will be sent to relevant governmental and non-governmental actors at the local, national, regional and global levels, with a view to strengthening and improving their action in this field.

Under the guidance of Team 2001 and UNV'S Research and Development section, the project will:

• Collect the relevant documentation - October/November 2000;
• Establish, with the support of a consultant, a Guidance Note to be circulated, for information and feed-back, to interested partners (within the UN system, but also research institutes and other governmental and non-governmental IYV 2001 partners) - December/January 2001;
• Organize a Workshop in 2001, composed of experts, practitioners and governmental representatives in order to finalize the Note - March/April 2001;
• Present the Guidance Note, and its recommendations, to several intergovernmental and non-governmental agencies in 2001.

Everyone and anyone interested are invited to contribute to this research initiative. Please send your contributions and bring your suggestions to:

Call for contributions

Volunteering and social cohesion

1. What are the main symptoms and causes of social, economic, cultural, racial or other forms of exclusion in the country/community where you presently live? Who are the victims of social exclusion?
2. Can you point us towards any volunteer project or programmer that reduces or has helped reduce the negative effects of exclusion? For example:
   • The volunteer service is directed towards those who are excluded and is meant to help them benefit
   • Those who are excluded act as volunteers themselves (If you wish, you may include brief documentation.)
3. What factors do you think can explain the success of these social cohesion initiatives? What lessons should we learn from these successful experiences for other similar attempts?
4. What do you believe are the most promising leads - conceptual but also concrete - for the future development of volunteerism as an element of the struggle against exclusion at the level of both government and civil society (associations, private sector...), and on the local, national and international levels? @