Knowledge about volunteering and its practices, dynamics, benefits and challenges, is spread across many stakeholders across the globe. To improve the integration of volunteerism in the 2030 Agenda, policy makers and development practitioners need specific types of knowledge to improve policy and practice. The goal of the UNV Knowledge Portal is to consolidate and make volunteering data accessible to inform policy and advocacy. It matches those who collect data and those who make policy. The portal covers different areas of evidence across three sections:

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2020 is a year of urgency – and not just because of the coronavirus outbreak. Rising inequalities, long-lasting conflicts, complex emergencies, climate crisis, migration, displacement and the threat of ecosystem collapse currently affect the lives and livelihoods of billions of people. Locally led responses to these challenges are critical and volunteers are often at the helm of local efforts.

This paper is divided into three parts. The first explores attempts to capture and describe how volunteering has changed over the years. This section examines the dominant conceptualizations of volunteering as a social practice and explores how research has taken into account the contribution of volunteering to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the 2030 Agenda. The second section briefly revisits the 1999 typology and discusses how it can be revised and updated in light of the changes described.

Online volunteers have been crucial to upscale the impact of Youth Co:Lab’s regional programmes. Coming from different countries and ethnicities, these online volunteers bring a variety of skills to the table. They have applied their skills and knowledge through a range of activities, including proofreading and translating communications materials, conducting research supporting COVID-19 related efforts. 

My role in the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) is an interesting one. I lead the Media Relations Team for the mission’s Communications and Public Information section. My day begins bright and early at 5:45am, when I compile the day’s media monitoring report, highlighting key political, economic and social issues, both in South Sudan and internationally.

Under a new partnership with the Government of the Russian Federation, UNV is offering UN Volunteer assignments in different areas of expertise for Russian nationals.

The new Service Desk consolidates enquiry input channels, including web and email queries, and leverages AI and self-service technologies such as chatbots, to give around-the-clock service to UN partners and those who manage UN Volunteers. External visitors are serviced in three UNV languages – English, French and Spanish, including on the AI interface.

The workshop explored the role of volunteering in contributing to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and enhanced the knoweldge and leadership of participating UN Youth Volunteers, especially in the COVID-19 context. Welcoming the participants via a video message Kyoko Yokosuka, Chief of UNV's External Relations and Communications Section, highlighted the importance of UN Volunteers serving with pride, awareness and ethics.