Position of the European Volunteer Centre (CEV) on "Volunteering and the New Information and Communication Technologies"

Regarding: International Telecommunication Union (ITU) World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)

The European Volunteer Centre (CEV) is delighted that “volunteering and the new information and communication technologies” is being considered as a main theme of the civil society bureau of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) World Summit on the Information Society, Geneva 2003. We are pleased to lend our full support to this initiative and would like to take this opportunity to outline why we, as a network of 26 National and Regional Volunteer Development Centres across 21 countries in Europe, believe that the theme of “volunteering and the new information and communication technologies” merits
serious consideration by the Official Selection Committee of PrepCom-2.

The European Volunteer Centre, together with its membership of 26 National and Regional Volunteer Development Organisations across 21 countries in Europe, represents thousands of volunteer organisations, volunteer bureaux and individual volunteers across the Continent. The key aims of the organisation are:

• To be the voice for volunteering in Europe;
• To strengthen the infrastructure for volunteering in the countries of Europe;
• To promote volunteering and make it more effective. CEV has exploited, and is keen to exploit further, the use of new information and communication technologies to help achieve our core aims.