the consideration of the Council.DP/1985/44 English Page 6 16. UNV activities are an important part of the overall UNDP strategy to promote participatory grass roots approaches to development. UNV is also instrumental in furthering contacts and collaborative activities and arrangements with NGOs aimed at improving the condition of the population groups who remain on the periphery of development. In this connection, the Administrator expressed his intention at the thirty-first session of the Council to further enlist non-governmental organizations in an effort to strengthen self-reliance at the community level and to help the development process reach more effectively the poorest and powerless who have too often been passed over in the push for progress. The Council, in decision 84/4, operative paragraph 16, welcomed "the emphasis placed by the Administrator on grass roots approaches for development and on recipient Governments’ increasingly tapping the potential of non-governmental organizations within the context of country programming and project execution, without prejudice to the basic principles of the Programme as embodied in the Consensus of 1970." 17. UNV involvement in grass roots activities has been evolving steadily since the adoption of resolution 31/166 by the General Assembly in 1976, which called upon UNV to develop its activities in support of "organized efforts by local and indigenous groups and communities to promote self-help" through programmes and projects conforming to national priorities. Both governmental organizations and NGOs which participate with UNV in such activities have been termed domestic development services (DDS). 18. UNV started with the approach of assisting indigenous development organizations with their activities aimed at the lowest layer of the social fabric. UNDP committed significant resources from its regional programme funds to make it possible for UNV to assist such DDS programmes. The first programme, "Technical Co-operation with DDS Organizations in Asia and the
**Analysis**
The text discusses the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) program and its activities in promoting participatory grassroots approaches to development, self-reliance at the community level, and improving the condition of marginalized population groups. It highlights the importance of involving non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and domestic development services (DDS) in development efforts. The text focuses on the UNV's role in supporting local and indigenous groups in promoting self-help and development, indicating that the category should be related to development, humanitarian aid, and community empowerment.

**Category**
Economic development, Humanitarian aid and relief