Lesotho to Celebrate International Volunteers Day

Lesotho will join the international community in the celebration of the International Volunteer Day at a ceremony to be held at Nazareth in Maseru on Friday.

The ceremony, which will be graced by the presence of the Minister of Gender, Youth, Sports and Recreation, Mrs. 'Mathabiso Lepono, will bring together volunteers in the country to enhance network capabilities and information sharing amongst themselves and to other stakeholders.

According to the secretary of the Lesotho National Volunteer Commission (LNVC) Mr. Lebohang Lerata, the aim of the celebration is to commend local voluntary involvement as a valuable and indispensable contribution to the improvement of social conditions, promotion of economic development and empowerment of people to take charge of their activities. 

Issues to be highlighted during the celebration include the value of volunteer contributions to economic and social development, and to national capacity-building; the importance of volunteerism as a vehicle to include all segments of society; and the role that volunteers can play in the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals.

The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed International Volunteer Day (IVD) in 1985; it is celebrated every December 05. Since the day was proclaimed, the UN Volunteers programme and its civil society partners have joined volunteers around the world to celebrate.

Meanwhile, the commemoration of the volunteer day will be celebrated simultaneously with the 2nd anniversary of the launching of the Lesotho National Volunteer Commission, which was launched last year as body that monitors volunteers' activities in the country.

1 December 2003