Celebrating volunteer role models

The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme in Cambodia published its third and last newsletter in 2013, taking a special look at the country's International Volunteer Day (IVD) celebrations, during which over 750 volunteers from all over Cambodia gathered on 5th December in Phnom Penh to recognize the contributions that volunteers make to Cambodia’s development.

Creating positive role-models for youth in Cambodia is very important, and therefore the celebrations were held under the motto "Be a role model, be a volunteer!" in line with the global UNV IVD theme this year: Young. Global. Active. The purpose of both events was to recognize the hard work of volunteers all over Cambodia, demonstrate the benefits of volunteerism to society as a whole as well as to the individual volunteer.

The third National Forum on Volunteerism aimed to motivate participants to engage more in their communities, and provide information about different volunteering opportunities in Cambodia and abroad.

IVD preparations and the willingness by all stakeholders to recognize volunteers across Cambodia were supported by the launch of a nationwide campaign, "Recognize Me!". The purpose of this campaign is to enhance the recognition of volunteers and provide them with a space to share their stories and become positive role-models for their peers and in their communities.

With the different pictures received, the UNV Field Unit in Cambodia created a 'face map' of volunteers in the country. During IVD celebrations, participants were encouraged to join this campaign and share their story, picture and video.

Read other volunteer stories in the full third edition of the UNV Cambodia newsletter