Whilst the Red Cross and Red Crescent involvement with volunteering has been well established for a long time, I should also confess that at the international level, the issues around volunteering and the volunteers themselves came to be taken for granted. We hope that the international community now is, and will remain, more alert to the importance of volunteering as a consequence of this debate. The fact that the Commission on Social Development is focussing on volunteering, today, is highly encouraging, especially for our volunteers working hard in this very hour, assisting hundreds of thousands in India, El Salvador and elsewhere where Mother Nature kills without mercy. Many others have provided their definitions - which vary from country to country, and the phenomenon is described in different terms in different languages. This often makes a big difference for the beneficiary.
Volunteers work part-time.
Most people only volunteer a few hours a week. So volunteering can be combined with any occupation. It can continue for many years. It has a unique focus on the task. Volunteers are local.