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.

UNV supports initiatives involving community-based organizations and local volunteerism that can play a decisive role in improving the lives of the poor, while simultaneously benefiting the environment. Achieving the goal of environmental sustainability requires the ingenuity, solidarity, and creativity of many millions of ordinary people, particularly through volunteering.

The contribution of volunteerism in response to the HIV epidemic has been critical in reaching out to vulnerable groups, strengthening community support around people living with HIV and in capacity building and advocacy efforts. As most primary health care takes place at the community and household levels, a valuable example of volunteer activity has been the development of community-based grass-roots organizations of volunteers involved in caring for People Living with HIV and in educating the public about HIV prevention.

Voluntary citizen participation is an essential part of civil society, which in turn is a key contributor to sustainable development, human rights, good governance and social justice. 2011, the tenth anniversary of the International Year of Volunteers (IYV+10), saw an upsurge of such action in different forms in many countries around the world.

The first State of the World’s Volunteerism Report (SWVR) by the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme was launched at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, United States, on 5 December 2011 and about 80 countries around the world. The SWVR promotes a better understanding of volunteerism. It demonstrates the universality, scope and reach of volunteerism along with new trends in the twenty-first century. The report examines important contributions in diverse fields such as sustainable livelihoods, social inclusion, social cohesion and disaster risk reduction.

To mark International Volunteer Day, the UNV Field Unit in Bangladesh has published Volunteering for the MDGs in Bangladesh. The colorful booklet provides an overview of UNV’s activities in Bangladesh and relates the country’s progress in achieving the Millennium Development Goals through stories about volunteering.  The booklet features a volunteer story for each of the MDGs with all but one directly involving a UN Volunteer. The booklet also outlines recent and current efforts in Bangladesh to address the post-2015 development agenda.