Every year on 5th December the world celebrates one of its oldest and heart-warming traditions: volunteering. International Volunteer Day (IVD) is the date when all around the world people gather to commemorate that volunteering matters, because volunteers have the power to change lives.

UNV Field Unit in UNAMID, as part of its celebrations to commemorate this day, is organizing the Volunteering for Darfur Matters Photo Exhibition, to recognize the good work accomplished by the UN Volunteers in this part of the world. The main intention is to display as many different ways to contribute to peace building and development as possible.

The exhibition will be open from 5 December 2011 until 5 February 2012, andis formed by photos sent by UN Volunteers across Darfur regions (North, West and South Darfur) while facing and accomplishing their assignments.

“Volunteering matters because volunteers have the power to change lives. They build social cohesion, enhance civic participation, mitigate conflict and contribute to a society’s well-being. But, for volunteerism’s full potential to be realized, more conducive policies are needed, and organizations need to advocate for the key role volunteer action has in attaining sustainable development” (http://www.iyvplus10.com.au/).