UNV and its network of volunteers have created a robust global infrastructure for volunteer efforts, and boosted local capacity to support these initiatives. As a result, several hundreds of thousands or volunteers have engaged meaningfully with communities, whether at home or abroad, and brought about real development progress. In 2015, UN Member States requested that UNV support the establishment of national volunteer schemes.

Given the critical gaps in the evidence base for the contributions of volunteerism to peace and development, a key focus during this Strategic framework period will be to work with partners from academia and other volunteerinvolving organizations to develop a global research agenda on volunteerism. this will involve strengthening collaboration and cultivating research in the global South, continuing the publication of the State of the World’s volunteerism reports, and enhancing the measurement of volunteering at national levels, especially in developing contexts.

UNV’s experience in these areas shows that community resilience, which can be enhanced through volunteerism, is the basis for successful and sustainable programmes. Social, economic and environmental sustainability are building blocks of sustainable development. And they are inextricably interlinked. Disaster risk reduction and the environment are closely related. Sustainable development requires that disaster risks are reduced and communities are better prepared for response and recovery.

UNV is uniquely situated to advance improvements to social services given its widespread network of volunteers at the national and community levels. To date, UNV’s interventions in basic social services have positively impacted areas such as primary health case, prevention of violence against women, education and food security. UN Volunteers work with local, institutional and national authorities to improve capacity to deliver basic services, while at the same time helping local communities and organizations strengthen their active participation in local governance processes.

Acknowledging that traditional means of implementation need to be complemented by participatory mechanisms that facilitate people’s engagement, the 2030 Agenda explicitly names volunteer groups as actors in their own right among the means of implementation. Volunteer groups can be brokers of engagement, connecting institutional initiatives with volunteer action at community level and strengthen local governance.

The 2030 Agenda explicitly names volunteer groups as actors in their own right among the means of implementation. Volunteer groups can be brokers of engagement, connecting institutional initiatives with volunteer action at community level and strengthen local governance. Volunteers can facilitate and support people’s engagement in planning, implementing and monitoring the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), thereby fostering local ownership and leveraging innovative development solutions from the ground up.

UN Volunteers are often at the forefront of humanitarian response, because the skills and expertise they bring to help alleviate the plight of people in desperate situations. Also, their volunteer commitment, local knowledge and neutral status facilitate building bridges between  stakeholders in affected communities by promoting mutual trust, enhancing ownership and building capacity.

Young people are disproportionately affected by poverty and social exclusion, and their ability to participate in development processes is limited. In response, the UN Youth Volunteers Programme aims to contribute to the development of young people, empowering them to come up with solutions to the most pressing challenges of our day and equipping them with the skills and knowledge, as volunteers, to put their ideas into action.

These experts cover a wide variety of highly specialized technical fields, which include accounting, agriculture, banking, civil engineering, computer science, economics, environmental protection, food processing, geology and mining, geothermal and reservoir engineering, industrial hygiene and safety, marine biology, manufacturing and marketing, medical and public health services, patents licensing, poultry breeding, telecommunications, urban planning, water resources development, etc.

This option may be useful for rapid deployment in many areas, such as shoring up emergency responses, census activities, and in general for projects that require a quick scaling up or rapid adaptation to changing circumstances. This short-term initiative often suits diaspora nationals, the corporate sector and retirees.