Volunteers clean the shore of Geokdepe Lake in Turkmenistan during ‘Green Games’ organized by the European Union Delegation, the Nature Protection Society of Turkmenistan, and a local mountain climbing club.
Volunteers clean the shore of Geokdepe Lake in Turkmenistan during ‘Green Games’ organized by the European Union Delegation, the Nature Protection Society of Turkmenistan, and a local mountain climbing club.

UNV launches the first regional report on volunteering in Central Asia

State of Volunteering in Central Asia Review (VCARE) launches on the sidelines of the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development in New York on 12 July 2024.

The first regional Report of its kind – VCARE showcases the evolution of volunteering practices and the impact of volunteer efforts, emphasizes the value of volunteers' contributions, and identifies best practices in the region's volunteer movement.

The Report’s findings offer diverse examples of volunteer actions that can help to fast track the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in the region's five countries – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. 

VCARE was officially endorsed to take shape as a standalone Report at the International Volunteer Forum in Astana in 2023

Country case studies, face-to-face and virtual meetings, interviews, and dialogues conducted in the region between September 2023 and March 2024 helped bring the Report to fruition. 

Split into five chapters, it serves as a tool for evaluating progress and taking stock of the diverse ways volunteers contribute to implementing priorities at the national level as well as the Sustainable Development Goals. 

The Report benefitted from the valuable insights of partners, together with government officials, representatives of UN entities, academic researchers including from the Center for Studies of Civil Society and the Non-profit Sector of National Research University Higher School of Economics, independent experts, and members of volunteer movements and organizations. 

 

Volunteering in Central Asia was captured in stunning photographs. Each photograph speaks a thousand words. Click to view the Exposure collage.

 

To view the Report in Russian and the summary in English, please click here.

 

Listen to the volunteers from Central Asia and get a glimpse of the volunteer spirit in the following video.