The first aim of IYV 2001 is that volunteers' service locally, nationally and internationally be more recognized as an important part of civil society. Some questions:

　　．Have the contributions of volunteers first and foremost, volunteers from your own society to welfare and development in your country been inventoried?: e.g. contributions to :
　　---emergency relief or civil defence, or to health and social welfare provisions
　　---facilitating local development in your villages and towns
　　---conflict prevention and resolution, and peace-building, or to
　　---promotion of respect for human rights and of democracy
　　．A country study might be made, at government, private or joint instigation, to describe and quantify such contributions. Have you a university faculty, research institute or Ministry which could undertake such a study?
　　．Such a "report to the nation" on volunteer service could go further, to indicate measures which government and society might take to enhance and optimize those contributions in the future
　　．Major studies of this kind have been carried out in recent years -- particularly in industrialized countries -- by governments, national statistical bodies or universities. Can you access them? Would you welcome help to do so?
　　．Has your country issued a national Human Development Report, perhaps with the assistance of the UN Development Programme? Could the contribution of volunteer service and voluntary action to your country's development be an appropriate element of a future national HDR? (It has been suggested that the UNDP-authored global Human Development Report for 2000 or 2001 might be partly based on such country studies).
　　．If it is not already the case, would it be relevant to designate a specific Ministry with responsibility for recognition and facilitation of volunteer service and voluntary action, and to provide it with a budget to this end?
　　．In what broad ways might volunteer service best be recognized -- or further recognized -- in your country in the course of IYV 2001 and beyond? Are there negative stereotypes to be addressed?
　　．To honour active volunteers, annual awards might be instituted for the best examples of individual, small group, local community and national NGO service and action. This could extend to awards for excellence in the leadership and administration of such work (e.g. transparency of reports and accounts), or in training or promotional work
　　．Recognition requires visibility. To identify volunteer activity and make it visible, regular press columns and radio and TV programmes might be sought out which would be willing to profile volunteers, volunteer service and voluntary action topics regularly or in depth
　　．It could be appropriate to draw the volunteer sector into consultation in the establishment of the nation's policies and priorities for such areas as health, education, culture, environment
　　．Ways might be sought in which volunteers and activists who have made an impact at local level could be enabled to express their continued commitment by taking on higher or wider responsibilities: e.g. involving them in training newcomers, or placing them in positions which give effect to policies of "national execution".

The second and a key aim of IYV 2001 is that, for the greater good of society, volunteer service be more facilitated. Here the possibilities will vary from country to country. Measures to be taken should desirably respond to the felt needs of volunteers and their organizations; a further possible criterion is that they be feasible for government to assist within its policies and budgets. The suggestions are but a small selection:

　　．Political parties could feature in their manifestos, and governments in their plans for their period in office, a commitment to facilitating the growth and effective functioning of volunteer service and action. Parliament might be requested to debate the matter from time to time in full session or via an appropriate parliamentary committee
　　．Coalitions might be forged between the public and private sector and foundations in the country, to secure funding designed to put volunteer service on a sounder footing
　　．Public servants might be accorded special leave of absence with or without pay to undertake periods of volunteer service within their country or internationally
　　．Official encouragement could be given to business and industry to facilitate "corporate volunteering", whereby employees are enabled to render service, thus acquiring useful skills and enabling the company to meet its social responsibilities and be seen to do so
　　．The experience of some countries could be studied, whereby they exempt from certain taxes duly constituted and registered volunteer service organizations which undertake to provide a regular public report of their activities and of their income and expenditure
　　．Similarly, other countries' experience might be studied, where a measure of tax deductibility is extended to taxpaying individuals and companies which specifically fund volunteer service
　　．Radio and TV broadcasting companies could be encouraged to introduce the concept of pro bono public service announcements on behalf of volunteer-based organizations and activities
　　．It may be noted that some countries have seen fit to introduce volunteer service schemes of various kinds as accepted alternatives to custodial sentences for crime or to military conscription
　　．The State might put its training institutions at the disposal of volunteer services at concessional rates. Workshops might be provided in volunteer management and to enhance the training of volunteers
　　．Modules about working with volunteers might be taught as part of the curriculum for such professions as social work, health and education
　　．organizations having a paid staff and seeking to involve large numbers of volunteers on an ongoing basis might seek funding to enable them to create the post of coordinator of volunteers
　　．The State might ensure that a percentage of the cement, roofing, timber or other materials at the disposal of municipal or local authorities be set aside and made available concessionally to duly registered community-based volunteer groups
　　．The State might seek to ensure that volunteers from duly constituted and recognized bodies are afforded insurance cover and social welfare protection on a par with conventional workers

The third declared aim of IYV 2001 is to increase greatly the extent to which the myriad successful achievements of volunteers are networked to other volunteers and groups also working for welfare and development. Systematic sharing of experience can avoid the need for other local groups, other communities, other nations even, to "reinvent the wheel". Some ways in which this can be done effectively and which could be a significant component of the Year are set out below:

　　．A university or research institute might be invited to design a national programme for systematic oral, written, illustrated, debated, exhibited and electronically communicated networking of successful small-scale economic and social initiatives undertaken voluntarily
　　．Every local community, every village, every successful development initiative, might be invited to appoint a "raconteur" -- a volunteer from among the community who can speak or write of "How we did it". These raconteurs could be enabled to come together at district, provincial or national level to exchange their experiences and techniques with the assistance of facilitators versed in employment-creation, income-generation, conflict resolution or other areas as appropriate
　　．Orally, radio programmes and street theatre (since both have enormous potential for dissemination of information) might be promoted on the "How we did it" theme. A regular TV programme could permit illustration of the results and products, the processes and the techniques in action
　　．In print, a regular newspaper column, a published newsletter, an academic journal, pamphlets and flyers can be devoted to the same theme
　　．Schools, colleges, universities and community centres might be invited to become resource centres for holding and disseminating such information. Ministries and universities might encourage, enable and to the extent feasible fund national email networks, "chat rooms" or "bulletin boards"
　　．Bilateral and multilateral aid agencies, foundations and private sector companies could fund national and regional workshops, action projects, "markets" and the like in which volunteers and their groups can exchange designs, techniques and experience and display their wares. Such experience could be made known to and be published by one or more of the major worldwide INGOs disseminating such information
　　．Each National Committee might set up a web site for the duration of IYV 2001 and there maintain a log of all national IYV activities. It could identify and publish a list of volunteer-relevant web sites in the country. And the web site might be linked to sites outside the country which carry information useful to volunteer leadership anywhere
　　．Every encouragement could be given by UN Agencies, governments or universities to volunteer bodies to establish ongoing Internet web sites, to publish their experiences in this way, and to link themselves with international and global web sites specializing in this kind of material
　　．Individual volunteers and their organizations are strongly encouraged to share their thoughts on the interactive IYV 2001 web site -- http://www.iyv2001.org

Enhanced promotion of volunteer service is the fourth of the four aims of IYV 2001. The promotion should be geared to creating a climate of public and official opinion more understanding of and more sympathetic to voluntary action in general and volunteer service in particular. Amongst the desirable outcomes are that more needs of society will be seen as susceptible of assistance from volunteers; that more schoolchildren and youth, career men and women and retirees will feel encouraged to offer service as volunteers; and that measures will be taken and resources made available to match those offers to the needs and opportunities.

　　．Desirably, the promotional effort:
　　---should be based on what volunteers are doing and achieving individually and in groups, here and now
　　---would stress the competence and professionalism as well as the humanitarianism of the volunteers involved
　　---would aim in part at attracting new requests for assignment of volunteers to address specific needs
　　---would attract offers of service from new volunteers and activists
　　．The attention of the general public may be drawn to the benefits to the vulnerable in particular and to society in general which flow from the specific activity
　　．What about putting together a photo history of volunteering in your country?
　　．What about one big all-volunteers-together event for IYV 2001, photographed from the air?
　　．It will be particularly effective if prominent figures are seen to be rendering volunteer service in IYV 2001, above and beyond their official roles or outside the fields in which they are famous. For example the Head of State, Ministers and other politicians, cultural figures such as actors, singers, film stars, pop musicians, athletes
　　．National and local authorities, local communities and neighbourhoods, and voluntary organizations might use IYV 2001 to stimulate creativity and vision in developing more innovative and worthwhile assignments for volunteers, and to seek ways of strengthening publicity for the need for volunteers to carry out those assignments
　　．With the value of such activity thus demonstrated, part of the promotional effort might also be aimed at attracting new financial or other resources from government, foundations, the private sector and external sources, designed to expand the scope and contribution of volunteer service
　　．One lasting educational programme might be planned to remain after 2001: say, an annual volunteer leadership conference, a book on the basics of volunteer leadership, opportunities for teenagers to learn in school about volunteering, an interactive web site, a university course
　　．The case might be considered for setting up a national volunteer centre with the task of promoting volunteer service beyond IYV 2001 and of maintaining an impetus for recognizing, facilitating and networking it
　　．There might be a commitment to marking International Volunteer Day on 5 December each year.
There might be a commitment to marking International Volunteer Day on 5 December each year.