Union Minister of Youth Affairs & Sports Shri Kiren Rijiju  virtually addressed International Volunteer Day today. UN Volunteers India along with Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, UNDP and other partner UN Agencies, celebrated International Volunteer Day 2020 (IVD). Secretary (Youth Affairs), Smt. Usha Sharma and Joint Secretary (Youth Affairs) , Shri Asit Singh also attended the event virtually.  The IVD 2020 ceremony promoted volunteerism and recognized volunteer contributions to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

During his address Shri Kiren Rijiju said, “When all else stood still in the world, the youth, the young men and women of India carried their people to safety, security and most importantly, to progress and hope, against all odds. Over a million volunteers in India have taken action to combat the threat posed directly by COVID-19, and also thereafter, helping to tackle the aftereffects from the pandemic” he said. He ended by thanking the UN, NYKS, NSS and community volunteers for their extraordinary efforts “I wish all a very happy International Volunteer Day! I am committed to working with all young people out there to fight.”

Shri Kiren Rijiju also announced the names of the V-Awardees 2020 and congratulated them for their community outreach efforts. The V-Awardees 2020- Chetan Pardeshi; VijayambigaiThulashidos; Nupur Agarwal; Rohan Modi; Yashoda Pandey; Harshit Gupta; Chaitanya Prabhu; Pradeep Sharma; AkritiGupta; Poorvaprabha Patil- thanked the jury and talked about the motivation behind their projects.

In her address, Secretary (Youth Affairs), Smt. Usha Sharma focused on volunteerism being the corner stone for the long-term vision of India realizing its full potential. Joint Secretary (Youth Affairs), Shri Asit Singh emphasized on the role of volunteers in drafting the youth policy and policy for volunteerism.

The theme for this year’ IVD is “Together We Can Through Volunteering” which aims to thank volunteers and celebrate their efforts during adversities and beyond. UNV India coordinated a nationwide campaign building on the impact that volunteers have in communities, nationally and globally, for peace and development.

The IVD 2020 ceremony started with the launch of the IVD anthem jointly produced by UNV India and UNHCR followed by an address by Shalina Miah (UNV Regional Manager, Asia & Pacific) who thanked the volunteers for their undying spirit of altruism.

Shoko Noda (UNDP Resident Representative in India)addressed the audience and reiterated UNDP’s commitment to work with millions of talented and compassionate volunteers to find new ways of interpreting the fast-changing realities.

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NB/OA

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