For the first time in UN history, a substantive discussion on the role of volunteerism in the promotion of social development was held at the 39th session of the United Nations Economic and Social Council's Commission for Social Development in February 2001. A special panel of experts, organized by the UNV programme, preceded the government debate. It resulted in a draft resolution adopted by the 46 members of the Commission. Read

This is the latest paper in the series of publications prepared in recent years by UNV on various aspects of volunteerism. It aims at connecting the ongoing debate on technical cooperation for capacity development with volunteerism as a key means to achieving desired results. Download a copy of the paper as PDF File. Read

This document is a practical guide on the study of volunteer behaviour to empower countries to produce their own empirical data to demonstrate the importance contribution of volunteerism to their economy.  This toolkit is to assist countries worldwide in undertaking measurement studies on national, regional and local volunteering. Read

In this issue of ESSENTIALS, launched on International Volunteer Day, on the 5th of December, the reader is introduced to an analysis of successful volunteer interventions, lessons learned and good practices with examples drawn from evaluatory evidence in a variety of development contexts. Read