Vol. 531 No. 2
73 Dr. Upton asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will take a day's leave to carry out voluntary work in recognition of this year as the International Year of the Volunteer; if he will allow all staff in his Department to take a day off on a similar basis; the steps he will take to pay tribute to the International Year of the Volunteer; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5338/01]
I pay tribute to the more than 4,500 highly quali fied and experienced women and men of over 140 nationalities, among them many Irish, serving as volunteer specialists and field workers in developing countries throughout the world.
The United Nations Volunteers Programme was established in 1970, at the request of the member states, by the UN General Assembly, to serve as an operational partner in development co-operation. Since then, more than 20,000 people have given generously of their time, expertise and energy to serve as UN Volunteers. UNV is unique within the UN family and as an international volunteer undertaking. It reports to the United Nations Development Programme and works through UNDP's country offices around the world. It is funded by voluntary contributions from UN member states. Volunteers are professionals from more than 100 different fields of expertise. Many have backgrounds in specific areas of medicine, agriculture, technology or economics.
The Government recognises and highly values the important work of UN Volunteers and supports their activities in a practical way by contributing annually to the cost of the UN Volunteer Programme. Many other UN member states do likewise. In recognition of this, the International Year of the Volunteer, our 2001 contribution to UNV will be £600,000 (761,843 euros), an increase of 100% over last year. Our contributions in the period 1993 to 2000, made through the Ireland Aid Programme, amounted to almost £2 millon.
