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.

Looking back on 2011, CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation and the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme have combined to analyze contemporary trends in voluntary action and make recommendations for policy-makers, civil society, and volunteer involving organizations, in our new publication, Broadening Civic Space through Voluntary Action. Read

The China Volunteer Report 2011, launched during the recent celebration of the 30th anniversary of UNV in China, is now available for download in English and Chinese here and at the UNDP China website.  Read

Making a difference: An assessment of volunteer interventions addressing gender-based violence in Cambodia (Partners for Prevention, 2010)  highlights the crucial role and the far-reaching positive effects that community volunteers play in the prevention and response to gender-based violence. Read

The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme and volunteer involving organizations know that volunteerism contributes to peace and development around the world, but how do we demonstrate this?  A new handbook, Assessing the Contribution of Volunteering to Development is designed to help development practitioners get the evidence they need. Read

As we mark the International Year of Youth: Dialogue and Mutual Understanding as well as the tenth anniversary of the International Year of Volunteers, we are pleased to release this discussion paper on “Youth Volunteering, Social Integration, and Decent Work: Inspiring Leadership.” Read