A new Manual on the Measurement of Volunteer Work published by ILO with John Hopkins University Center for Civil Society Studies was launched at the UN-backed Global Volunteering Conference in Budapest. The manual will help statisticians and economists measure the value of volunteerism and track the amount, type and value of such work in their countries.  The manual was produced in cooperation with with John Hopkins University Center for Civil Society Studies and supported by UNV.  Read

Corporations are realizing that by supporting employee volunteering, they benefit from having better trained, motivated and satisfied employers. They also improve their public image as being socially responsible, which is attractive to some consumers. Visit site

In his CNN iRreport, Matt Scott with Matador Network, a travel website, includes UNV on his list of ten organizations offering opportunities for people "to give something back... share  your skills and knowledge...meet other travelers" and local people.  Visit site

Delegates to the three-day 64th annual conference of the UN and NGOs, organised by the Department of Public Information (DPI), in partnership with the DPI/NGO Executive Committee, Germany and the UN Volunteers (UNV) programme, stressed the need to “connect the dots” between civil society groups dealing with various issues for greater impact on global problems. Visit site

More than 1,500 people – grassroots representatives from over 100 countries – gathered in Bonn, Germany, September 3-5 for the United Nations’ Department of Public Information/Non-Governmental Organization Annual Conference. The conference revolved around the theme of "Sustainable Societies, Responsive Citizens." Visit site

A society without "responsive citizens" is not sustainable according to the head of the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme. Visit site

At the opening of the 64th annual DPI-NGO conference in Bonn, Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations, said voluntary action was one of the highest expressions of our common humanity.  Looking forward to the “Rio+20” United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, he said the solution to current dangerous climate change lay in a fundamental transformation of consumption patterns and life styles.  Creating a sustainable green economy that would protect the environment and help achieve the Millennium Development Goals would not be possible without the involvement of all sectors of society, he warned, and emphased that all non-governmental organizations, individually and collectively, had an important role to play. Visit site

“Volunteering needs to move centre stage in this debate, instead of being seen as just an add on,” said Marian Harkin, an Irish member of the European Parliament in addressing participants at the 64th annual DPO-NGO conference held in Bonn, Germany from 3-5 September. “There are figures that show for every euro you give to volunteering, you get back five to eight euros,” she said. “I don’t know any financial organisation that gives those sorts of returns.” Visit site

Visit site

Visit site