Budapest, Hungary: Participants at the recent Global Volunteering Conference were introduced to The Manual on the Measurement of Volunteer Work published by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in cooperation with the Johns Hopkins University (JHU) Center for Civil Society Studies, supported by the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme.

A recent study has conservatively estimated the value of volunteering across just 37 countries as at least $400 billion. However, the lack of comparable data on global volunteering has left it under-valued and its full potential unrealized. The Manual, available now online and in print, provides the first internationally sanctioned guidance for generating reliable, official data on volunteer work using a common definition and approach. Read

Budapest, Hungary: On the final day of the recent Global Volunteering Conference in Budapest, volunteer-involving organizations from across the world adopted a Declaration determined to value, recognize and encourage volunteering’s contribution to people, their communities and our planet. The Declaration was a high point and the culmination of months of background work by staff of the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the conference co-hosts. Read

Budapest, Hungary: Over 200 international delegates are meeting in Budapest, Hungary, from 15-17 September, to discuss the future of volunteerism at the Global Volunteering Conference, "Volunteering for a Sustainable Future", co-hosted by the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme and the International Federation of Red Cross Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). Read