10 Questions & Answers explain the new Sustainable Development agenda, the role of volunteerism in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and potential activities for volunteers. This Q&A is part of a UNV toolkit on how volunteerism can contribute to achieve the SDGs that is designed to support substantive contributions to planning and programming at national level. The toolkit includes selected policy and knowledge documents, communications materials and links.

Sustaining Livelihoods Affected by the Aral Sea Disaster is a joint UN Programme of five UN Agencies (UNDP, WHO, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNV) and local authorities of Uzbekistan to improve the welfare of the most vulnerable groups due to Aral Sea ecological crisis in the Autonomous Republic of Karakalpakstan within Uzbekistan. The health component of the UN Joint Program targets at enhancing the capacity of primary health care workers to meet the health consequences of the Aral Sea environmental disaster with a specific focus on addressing the needs of women and the youth.

Establishing a Youth Volunteer Scheme is a guidance note developed based on lessons learned and good practice from UNV field experiences in working with national partners to establish youth volunteer schemes.  The publication builds on these experiences to describe in general lines the process for establishing a youth volunteer schemes.

In 2013, the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme commissioned a global evaluation on its contribution to volunteer infrastructure. The evaluation was carried out by the Centre for International Development and Training, University of Wolverhampton and covered 22 national and regional initiatives supported by UNV both financially and technically.

On 2 June 2014, CIVICUS, a global alliance of civil society leaders which advocates for citizen participation, launched its State of Civil Society Report 2014: Reimagining Global Governance.  The paper by the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme on Volunteerism, civic engagement and the post-2015 agenda was among more than 30 contributions to the report from the world’s leading experts on civil society as we

The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme in Cambodia published its third and last newsletter in 2013, taking a special look at the country's International Volunteer Day (IVD) celebrations, during which over 750 volunteers from all over Cambodia gathered on 5th December in Phnom Penh to recognize the contributions that volunteers make to Cambodia’s development.

On the occasion of International Volunteer Day 2013, the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme launched a report gathering findings, perceptions and recommendations on youth volunteerism in Arab states, as part of its regional project, Arab Youth Volunteering for a Better Future. The report is the product of twelve months of field work, focus groups, questionnaires, desk reviews and national workshops carried out in 2012 in each of the project’s target countries: Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia and Yemen.

In disaster response, the role and contribution of volunteerism is well recognized. In fact, when a disaster happens, volunteers are normally the first to act. The impact of volunteers in times of crisis can be tremendous; as the extent of damage – in terms of economic and human loss – is greatly influenced by the initial response. UNV has significant experience in disaster prevention and risk reduction.

To provide the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme in Bosnia and Herzegovina with a coherent framework for working with civil society actors in Bosnia and Herzegovina to better facilitate volunteerism and civic engagement, the UNV Field Unit for Bosnia and Herzegovina conducted a review and assessment of the civil society reports and needs assessments for Bosnia and Herzegovina released since 2008. This review document is organized into 5 main sections:

Peace building relies on the concept of voluntary action and active civic engagement. UN Volunteers can be the ideal interlocutor to deliver constructive messages about participatory processes, build trust and promote dialogue. In addition, many often perceive UN Volunteers as politically and socially impartial and non-threatening, making them effective actors among different stakeholders in the peace building processes, especially as they come from the communities that the UN supports.