"The fulfillment I get knowing that my efforts are helping to improve the lives of people around the world is worth more than any financial reward could give," said Adedoyin Onasanya of Nigeria, one of the online volunteers selected for the award.

Onasanya's service is a good example of the kind of impact online volunteers can have: he published a case study online of best practices in development based on work in Nigeria, then adapted it and other case studies for a children's web site; he started an online discussion group for Nigerian development practitioners; and he has translated parts of a youth web site from English into an African language.

"Looking at what these online volunteers have accomplished is a great way to how development organizations throughout the world benefit from online volunteering," said Manuel Acevedo, head of the UN Volunteers' information and communications technologies (ICT) initiatives. "By profiling 10 outstanding online volunteers, we hope to encourage more organizations to involve online volunteers and experience the benefits for themselves."

Other winners are from Costa Rica, Canada, Ukraine, Uruguay, Nicaragua and the USA. As part of their recognition, these volunteers are profiled on the NetAid web site and will receive a certificate from UNV and NetAid. For complete details on and quotes from the winners, information on the organizations they served and the service they contributed, and the criteria used for the selection of winners, visit http://www.netaid.org/OV/ [2].

Online volunteers undertake a variety of assignments for organizations through NetAid: translations, research, web design, data analysis, database construction, proposal writing, editing articles, online mentoring, publication design, moderating an online discussion group, or any other services that can be done through computer networks. Online volunteering provides organizations with new volunteers, new and additional talent and skills as well as a more diverse volunteer base. They volunteer from home computers, work computers or computers in public access centres.

Since the launch of NetAid Online Volunteering in February 2000, more than 230 organizations in 50 nations have posted assignments on the service for online volunteers, and almost 10,000 people from more than 60 countries have signed up as online volunteers. NetAid's Online Volunteering service, which provides the largest database of online volunteering opportunities anywhere in the world, is managed by staff of the UN Volunteers programme [3] in Bonn, Germany. [4]

UNV is the volunteer arm of the UN system. It extends hands-on assistance for peace and development in 140 countries. UNV works through the country offices of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to send volunteers and promote the ideals of volunteerism around the world. In 2001 alone, over 5,000 professionals from more than 150 countries brought their skills to communities to help local people become the driving force of their own development as national or international UN Volunteers.

NetAid , an independent New York based 501(c)(3) organization, channels direct support to local development projects fighting extreme poverty. NetAid was founded in 1999 by Cisco Systems and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). NetAid's other programmes include the World Schoolhouse, dedicated to ensuring that children everywhere have access to education opportunities. [5]

For more information, contact:
Jayne Cravens, tel: (49 228) 815 2305; email: [email protected] or
Richard Nyberg, tel: (49 228) 815 2223; email: [email protected]