International Volunteer Day 2016 celebrated

December 7: United Nation has celebrated International Volunteer Day (IVD) on December 5. The global event's celebration in Nepal was marked by the UN organising a conference in the capital. Various issues including tackling the challenges in the areas of food security, youth engagement, social inclusion and private sector responsibility to development were discussed in the programme.

The IVD 2016 was celebrated with a theme "#Global Applause-Give volunteer's a hand!". In the programme, three volunteers were honoured for their diverse contributions in Nepal. They were chosen as winners and were awarded with cash prizes. These winners were chosen by a jury of celebrities,  including singer Indira Joshi, member of the rock band 1974 AD Sanjay Shrestha, former Miss Nepal Malvika Subba , former Miss Nepal Earth Nagma Shrestha and Mega Bank CEO Anil Shah who themselves are voluntarily engaged in advocacy and awareness raising.

Issuing a press statement, the UN in Nepal said that the objective of the IVD celebration is to provide a platform for volunteers to improve collaboration and create further actions for tangible results. "By sharing individual volunteer stories as part of our Nepal IVD 2016 campaign “I volunteer-here is my story!” we want to share how a single person can make a difference and inspire others to take action," reads the statement.