UNIS/SGSM/1368
4 December 2023
On International Volunteer Day for Economic and Social Development, we salute the more than one billion people worldwide who are contributing their time and skills to creating a better, safer, more caring and peaceful world.
This year’s theme — “If everyone did…” — underscores the importance of collective action, cooperation, and people-led solutions to global challenges like poverty, inequalities, conflict, the climate crisis, food insecurity and more.
In every community on the planet, volunteers are taking action to support the most vulnerable people, including in the midst of conflict and other humanitarian emergencies.
Young volunteers are joining the fight for climate action, pressing governments, businesses and policymakers to take the decisions needed to end this planetary emergency.
Our own UN Volunteers hail from more than 160 countries, and are helping to spur peace and sustainable development, and the realization of human rights, for people around the world.
On this important day, let’s re-commit to ensuring that all people can lend their energies to shaping a better future for all people and the planet we share.
Let’s stand with volunteers, everywhere.
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The new Permanent Representative of Mauritius to the United Nations Office (Vienna), Brian Glover, presented his credentials today to the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Vienna (UNOV), Ghada Waly.
We must transform how we produce and consume, and how we value nature, says the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, "Biodiversity is the bedrock of life and a cornerstone of sustainable development.... Biodiversity loss is a global challenge. No one country, however rich or powerful, can address it alone. Nor can they live without the rich biodiversity that defines our planet."
"On Africa Day, we celebrate a continent rich in heritage, vibrant in diversity and remarkable in its contributions to our global community." — António Guterres
The growing demand for minerals is amplifying the risks of crime, corruption and instability in the mineral supply chain, says a new study from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) released today.
