Ms. Flavia Pansieri, Executive Coordinator of the United Nations Volunteers, visited the global headquarters of the Fairtrade Labelling Organisations International and the Fairtrade Certification organization, FLO-CERT, in Bonn on June 2.
Ms. Pansieri, who was accompanied by Mr. Marco van der Ree, Management Officer, met with Mr Rob Cameron, Chief Executive of Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International, and Mr Ruediger Meyer, CEO of FLO-CERT, and held discussions with the senior management of Fairtrade. During the deliberations areas of possible cooperation were identified, including community based adaption to climate change.
Both the organizations will further explore potential of close cooperation around initiatives for sustainable development and empowerment of communities in developing countries and countries in transition.
The Executive Coordinator gave an overview of UNV’s mission and the contribution UNV volunteers make towards peace and development across the globe. “Volunteerism can transform the pace and nature of development,” she said.
Ms. Pansieri said that the UNV mobilizes more than 7,600 volunteers every year, to work in many different areas around the world. More than 75 per cent of the UNV volunteers come from developing countries and 34 per cent are national UNV volunteers within their own countries. “Volunteers work in situations ranging from crisis to humanitarian response and also in long term sustainable development initiatives supporting UN agencies and NGOs. A large number of volunteers are deployed in peacekeeping operations of the UN as civilians fulfilling a range of roles from logistical support, to political affairs and as human rights officers.” The UNV Online Volunteering service also supports development organizations globally; in 2009 with more than 14,000 different assignments.
Earlier, Mr. Meyer, Chief Executive of FLO-CERT, the global Fairtrade certification body, explained the vision, mission and impact of the Fairtrade movement on resource-poor producers in the global South. He said that the benefits of Fairtrade currently reach nearly 1.5 million people in the global South through the market linkages to the developed countries made possible by the Fairtrade movement.
Mr. Meyer said that the Fairtrade market is rapidly expanding and in 2009 the sales of Fairtrade Certified products notched 3.6 billion Euros worldwide. Some 2000 producer and trader organizations in 80 countries are certified by FLO-CERT against Fairtrade Standards.
Mr Pieter Louw, associate director and head of Business Development at FLO-CERT, made a presentation on the challenges ahead for farmers in developing countries around the need for supplying low carbon products to the markets in developed countries. He outlined the carbon reduction plan of Fairtrade that will enable farmers from Africa, Asia and Latin America to retain their competitive in the emerging low carbon markets. |
