text: communities, have common aspirations and confront common difficulties and should be assisted in taking charge of the planning and implementation of their own development; (b) The persons or groups to be addressed by international co-operation within the context of a participatory development approach must include those who traditionally have been by-passed by official external assistance programmes; (c) Some form of external catalytic input is needed to enable these groups to take charge of the planning and implementation of their own development. This calls for a special kind of intervention which builds on the cohesion and motivation of such groups to initiate a social development process; such an input could be in the form of seed money, technical personnel in the form of regular volunteers, and access to appropriate technology; (d) It is evidently not sufficient simply to deliver material and financial inputs to such communities or to the DDS organizations working in them; technlcal skills and an appropriate type of animator are also needed, drawing on other successful experiments sponsored by UNDP and other United Nations system organizations in the field of training of agents of change; the UNV/DDS volunteer is the modallty which UNV has developed for this purpose; (e) This special type of volunteer animator has prior working experience with a DDS organization at the grass roots level, knowledge of community development processes and some technical skill which provides him or her with an entry point to the local community, a willingness and ability to cope with very difficult living conditions and a capacity to adjust to local customs and traditions. The DDS volunteers’ assignments generally last for two years, during which time they llve and work at the village level. The volunteer’sDP/1985/44 English Page 8 level of remuneration is limited to the individual’s most basic needs and is
analysis: The text discusses international cooperation and the role of volunteers in community development, focusing on building local capacities and empowering marginalized groups. It emphasizes the need for a participatory approach, technical skills, and cultural adaptation. This suggests that the category should be related to development and community building, rather than specific sectors like health or industry.