Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector Luamanuvao Winnie Laban today attended the launch of the working paper Defining the Nonprofit Sector: New Zealand, which illustrates the strength of collaboration between the Labour-led government and the non-profit sector in New Zealand.

The paper is part of an international research project that compares data on non-profit organisations in more than 40 countries, which will help measure the economic contribution of the community and voluntary sector in New Zealand. The first figures from the research project will become available in 2007-2008.

"Defining the Nonprofit Sector: New Zealand is a major step towards understanding and describing the non-profit sector in New Zealand," Luamanuvao Winnie Laban said.

“The paper places the community and voluntary sector in an historical context and describes it as ‘energetic, innovative and vocal, offering rich opportunities for citizen engagement.'

"The community and voluntary sector provides an array of services and activities that are vital to the social, economic, environmental and cultural wellbeing of New Zealand.

"Commentators have estimated the hidden economy generated from volunteer contributions nationally to be about three billion dollars. This paper and the associated research project will help government and organisations to gain a clearer understanding of the nature and economic value of the sector, which plays a vitally important role in all of our lives.

Researchers from Massey University wrote the paper with advice from a committee of non-profit sector and university representatives, working in partnership with the Office for the Community and Voluntary Sector, and close collaboration with Statistics New Zealand.

"The Labour-led government is committed to strengthening and nurturing relationships with the community and voluntary sector, and we support the ongoing research that will enable us to better value the contribution of these organisations to life in New Zealand," Luamanuvao Winnie Laban said.