It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to this gathering to launch the International Year of Volunteers 2001 in Viet Nam. I can think of no more appropriate issue for the world to embrace at the beginning of this new millennium. Every country depends on volunteers, but few give them the kind of respect they deserve.
Volunteers are the lifeblood of healthy societies everywhere.
As the UN General-Secretary emphasized in the global launch of the International Year of Volunteers last week, as well as building healthy societies, volunteers make an enormous economic contribution. In Canada, it is estimated that about ten per cent of GDP is derived from the time and work of volunteers. In Viet Nam, volunteerism has always been a fundamental part of this country's culture and tradition. For generations, volunteers and their organizations have contributed to the country's welfare, with millions of volunteers working with organizations like the Ho Chi Minh Youth Union, the Viet Nam Women's Union and the Viet Nam Red Cross. For example, in the past six years, some 80,000 young volunteers have gone to less-developed and isolated areas in Viet Nam, for one to two years, to work on literacy campaigns.