03 December 2001

Researchers in countries around the world are discovering that volunteers count. And during the International Year of Volunteers 2001 (IVY 2001), they have launched comprehensive surveys to count volunteer economic contributions. Where such contributions have been measured in the past, they make up between 6 and 14 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP).

From Mongolia to Namibia, researchers have opened up and adapted "Measuring Volunteering: A Practical Toolkit". Released earlier this year by the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) and the US-based INDEPENDENT SECTOR non-profit organization, the Toolkit encourages users to design a survey that will be valid for measuring voluntary activity across an entire country and to present the results in a form that will be useful to policymakers, practitioners and researchers.

"Putting figures to the value of volunteerism should help ensure that policy made in the public arena takes into account the impact on the levels and profiles of volunteerism in any country in a way that helps to increase and diversify the volunteer movement," said Robert Leigh, Representative of UN Volunteers in North America who helped draft the Toolkit.

Volunteers in Botswana, China, Kazakhstan, Lao PDR, Madagascar, Namibia and Tanzania have set in motion plans for the survey, while a study has been completed in Ulaanbaator, Mongolia.

Early Results

According to preliminary results of the Ulaanbaator study, carried out by the Statistical Information and Research Department of the Governor's Office of Capital City, 15.5 per cent of men and 9.5 per cent of women respondents participated in voluntary activity before the 1990s. Volunteer activity saw a significant rise in the years from 1990 to 2000, when 22.6 per cent of men and 25.3 per cent of women were involved in volunteering. Seventy per cent of the 600 respondents agreed that non-governmental organizations, especially social and non-profit organizations, play an important role in social development through volunteering.

The survey, requested by the IYV national committee and the Mongolian Volunteers Association, shows a high level of interest in volunteer action: 45 per cent of respondents were interested in volunteering, 21 per cent said they did not have time to volunteer and only eight per cent said they were not interested. The greatest benefits of volunteering were to obtain new skills and knowledge (30.5 per cent), self-development (29.3 per cent) and to meet new people (26.7 per cent).

Rough Rides in Lao PDR

In Lao PDR, a team of researchers has conducted more than 900 interviews from urban areas to the remote regions of the Asian country, using cramped public transport or motorcycles where roads were passable, or venturing out on foot where they were not. If weather conditions are favourable, the team will reach its target sample size of 1,200 by early November. Taking pictures and interviewing local people at times looked suspicious, however, and one field researcher, Soulilanh Phanthathirath, escaped being arrested four times by village police who mistook him for a foreigner.

"The feedback from the partners regarding this initiative has all been very positive," said survey coordinator Okama Brook. "The volunteer sending agencies view it as the long-awaited opportunity for the contributions of volunteers to be made known. They hope that highlighting the benefits of volunteering will encourage more volunteering as well as to enable the Government to provide more support to volunteer agencies."

Thaba Niedzwiecki, UNV's IYV Focal Point in Lao PDR, said a volunteer forum in November to present the survey results will lead to increased awareness of volunteer contributions and possibly the creation of a local volunteer centre to encourage more people to volunteer. The real beneficiaries of this survey, she said, will be the local volunteers who "give a great deal to their communities and neighbourhoods" in activities that may not be seen as volunteering.

Wayne Brook, CUSO's Country Director who places volunteers in Lao PDR, agrees. "Many people may not realize that the free time they give for worthy activities is valuable to society in general," he said. "Community solidarity is strengthened by these efforts."

"We consider this a valuable activity and have been told by the Government that our results will constitute the main body of data on volunteerism in Lao PDR," said UNV Programme Officer Stuart Moran.

First Steps

Volunteering research using the Toolkit as a starting point is picking up speed in other countries as well.

In Botswana, an IYV sub-committee has organized a national workshop to kick-start data collection for the survey. The research will focus on cultural approaches of volunteerism as well as reasons and rewards for individuals, communities and organizations. According to UNV Programme Officer Dianne Arboleda, the survey, to be conducted by the end of 2001, will examine cross-cutting issues of volunteerism with regards to gender, HIV/AIDS, the environment and the role of the different sectors in the promotion of volunteerism.

In China, the Social Development Institute under the State Development and Planning Commission is conducting a survey in conjunction with a parallel study on the policy and legal framework to promote the non-governmental organization sector and volunteering in China, which will be led by another team of experts. The findings of the studies were to be presented at the International Conference on Volunteering in Beijing this November.

In Kazakhstan, the IYV committee has received tenders from research agencies for conducting the survey and is in the process of developing the questionnaire, said UNV Programme Officer Julian Hansen.

In Namibia, the IYV national committee will hire a consultant to team up with University of Namibia students to carry out the survey. National IYV Coordinator Hilma Enkali said the research would address formal and informal forms of volunteering, including home-based church and community support to the elderly and those living with HIV/AIDS.

The UN Volunteers programme is encouraged by the application of the Toolkit.

"The Toolkit is not just sitting on a shelf, but it is rather a tool that can be practical and adapted to different environments," said Kwabena Asante-Ntiamoah, UNV's volunteerism specialist.

The greatest contribution of the Toolkit is likely to be its advocacy role, said Robert Leigh. "It should send a message to governments and all other interested stakeholders that measurement is highly desirable and feasible."