Beijing tribute to UNV and Olympic Volunteers

Beijing, China: ........

Beijing, China: The work of UNV in China towards promoting volunteerism for development has been recognized with multiple awards.

UNV Programme Officer John Floretta became only the second foreign national to receive a prestigious youth prize from the City of Beijing, while national UNV volunteer, Liu Hui, is to receive Beijing’s highest prize for volunteers.

Mr. Floretta received the ‘Top Ten Outstanding Youth’ prize – awarded to people aged under 45 who made the most significant contributions to Beijing – for his involvement in the Beijing Olympic Volunteers. This included promoting the 'Green Olympics' through volunteer activities and helping to provide the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games with external advisors on volunteer management.

The 2008 Beijing Olympiad saw one of the biggest volunteer mobilizations in recent times. The recognition of John Floretta's contribution to promoting volunteerism was also quite unique as other recipients of the award included Olympic gold medalists, police officers and doctors.

"I'm proud to have had the chance to work in China at such an exciting time," said Mr. Floretta, "and to support a prominent event like the Olympics while drawing attention to the potential of volunteerism for development."

Liu Hui was selected from a list of 30 nominees for the annual ‘Beijing Top Ten Volunteers’ award. It is the first time a UNV volunteer has received the capital’s highest recognition for volunteers.

Ms. Liu, who has already received a 'Live Positively' award from Coca-Cola on behalf of the Olympic Volunteers, was recognized for her work in garnering extensive media coverage for their work. The newspaper and television coverage of volunteerism as a result of her efforts reached hundreds of millions of people.

"I'm very honoured to be receiving this prize", commented Liu Hui, who also volunteered to provide logistical support for a team of doctors in the immediate aftermath of the May 2008 Sichuan earthquake. "I'd like to dedicate it to all the other volunteers who worked together with UNV, the Beijing Youth League and the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games to make the Games such a success. The happiest thing is to see the difference made by UNV volunteers."

In January 2009, the volunteer celebration held by UNV and UNDP on the eve of the Beijing Olympics was noted by the Ministry of Civil Affairs and Tsinghua University School of Management as "one of the top ten events impacting Chinese society in 2008".