Volunteerism has an important role to play in harnessing the potential of young people. It is an important means of supporting young people in their diversity, whilst fostering their inclusion in global peace and sustainable human development processes.
Engaging young people through volunteerism has to be a two-way street: young people should benefit from their volunteering experience as much their host community. That is why, as you will read, this strategy emphasizes skills development, knowledge, and personal growth in our UN Youth Volunteers modality, while also compelling us to not only increase the quantity of volunteering opportunities available to young people globally, but also improve the quality of their volunteer experience.
With this strategy, UNV is setting our course of action with regards to youth volunteerism for the coming years. It represents more than a year’s worth of effort by dozens of individuals, who convened workshops and online consultations, chaired focus groups and meetings, held hundreds of phone conversations, and revised numerous drafts to produce this version.