Resident Coordinator's Message to the Asia-Pacific Commemoration of International Volunteer Day 2021

Khun Ek-On, Members of the Diplomatic Corps, UN staff, esteemed volunteers, and colleagues.

It is a pleasure to address you today on International Volunteer Day, an important opportunity to recognize the work of all volunteers, and together think about how we can build upon these contributions to achieve progress on the SDGs and make tangible improvements in people’s lives.

This is a topic that is close to my heart. I began my development career volunteering in the state of Gujarat in India, working with women’s community groups on micro-finance. This experience taught me both a healthy respect for the resourcefulness and resilience of rural women, as well as the potential of modest interventions to make a big impact.

In Thailand, the role of volunteerism is growing as a driver of innovation and community engagement to advance the SDGs, based on a national ethos that has deep cultural and historical roots.

In the ongoing recovery from COVID-19, this contribution has been abundantly clear. The Voluntary National Review in Thailand found that volunteers have been integral in the pandemic response, with more than a million working in public health and making vital contributions on health promotion and disease prevention at the community level.

They are on the frontlines working on behalf of the most vulnerable. Across the country, Village Health Volunteers ensure that every child is weighed and evaluated regularly to address nutrition needs during the pandemic.

In Lampang Province, health volunteers from across 53 primary care centres have been trained remotely by Chiang Mai University on the treatment and follow up of hypertension treatment. This shows how health volunteers are supporting telemedicine in rural areas for the diagnosis and follow-up of patients, even in times of local lockdowns.

As just two more examples of this impactful work, youth and community volunteers in Khon Kaen are contributing their time and efforts to strengthen COVID-19 protection systems, while youth volunteers in Chiang Mai are helping to address young people’s mental health amid the recovery.

I also want to recognize the Government’s international contribution in this respect and express the UN’s appreciation for the support shown for the UN General Assembly Resolution on Volunteerism earlier this year.

The theme of the International Day this year is “Volunteer Now for Our Common Future”. Amid the pivotal challenges that we face today, including but not limited to the COVID-19 recovery and urgent climate action, this sense of shared humanity and solidarity is more essential than ever.

2021 marks the UN Volunteers programme’s 50th anniversary. Thailand was among the co-founders as a member of the International Secretariat for Volunteer Service that was instrumental in establishing the programme and has been a strong supporter ever since.

As we recognize the contributions of the Thailand International Cooperation Agency in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the UNV programme, and the UN Office for South-South Cooperation, it is also timely to consider how we can achieve greater recognition and integration of volunteering into SDG implementation.

This is put in practice in the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework, with volunteerism key to engagement with vulnerable groups and communities and supporting localization of SDGs across provinces and communities. This inclusive approach makes society stronger as a whole.

I encourage all of us here, volunteers and otherwise, to lend our support for this important role. We are always looking for partners in this regard, with more information available at unv.org, for what is a life-changing experience.

UNV offers its Online Volunteering service, with opportunities for short-term tasks through UN entities, Governments, academia, and UN-affiliated NGOs. We already have nearly 600 volunteers registered, the majority of whom are women with diverse skill sets. We would encourage everyone to utilize this service and more and more volunteers to register for this great opportunity.

To conclude, I want to highlight another unique aspect of volunteerism. At the UN, we need to acknowledge the criticism that often we are seen as inaccessible, an ivory tower of technocrats, when in fact every UN Agency seeks greater inclusivity and engagement with the public.

Volunteers fulfil a critical role in bridging this gap by bringing new ideas, commitment, and energy to development work, which reinvigorates the UN Family and keeps us closer to the communities that we serve. For that, volunteers everywhere have my and my colleagues’ sincere appreciation.

Thank you for your hard work and your ingenuity in implementing innovative solutions to the development challenges that affect us all.