The 2022 SWVR reveals that cooperation between volunteers and governments helps build collaborative decision-making. Drawing on quantitative and qualitative research with case studies from around the world, it also highlights the role of local volunteers as brokers between their communities and state authorities and underlines the diverse paths volunteering offers to civic participation.

UNDP generally provides support to the Small Island Developing States across a number of different thematic areas to address economic difficulties and development imperatives. However, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the vulnerabilities of SIDS countries in many ways including supply chain disruption, food insecurity, inadequate supplies of fresh water, and fragile biodiversity.

The African Development Bank reports that while 10 million to 12 million youth enter the workforce in Africa each year, only 3 million formal jobs are created annually.

The fourth State of the World’s Volunteerism Report (SWVR), Building Equal and Inclusive Societies, is designed to strengthen understanding on volunteerism and demonstrate its universality, scope, and reach in the twenty-first century.

The event was held during the Ninth Asia-Pacific Forum for Sustainable Development, arranged by UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) in late March 2022. Dignitaries from UN entities, government officials, diplomatic corps, development partners and volunteers from Europe and the CIS and Asia and the Pacific attended the event live. More than 1,500 participants joined virtually.

Hayfa and Mohamed were both among the finalists of the UNV50 Tunisia Volunteer Award for their "innovation to inspire new forms of volunteering". Applications received for this category exhibited the different forms of creativity that volunteers used as pathways to drive inclusion and growth. But these two names stood out. Not only due to the creativity and innovative problem-solving their work demonstrated, but also their remarkable ability to engage other volunteers.

The report reveals that cooperation between volunteers and governments helps build collaborative decision-making. Despite the socio-economic impacts of the pandemic, global interest in volunteering has not waned, and volunteering in communities has endured, notwithstanding limited mobility and resources. While restrictions have prevented many people from volunteering in person, many have switched to volunteering online.

In Kazakhstan, under the leadership of the Ministry of Information and Social Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan, volunteer organizations gathered for the International Volunteer of the Year Award ceremony in Pavlodar on 3 December.  UNV held a panel on International Volunteerism, featuring volunteers serving in Azerbaijan, Jordan, Russia and Turkey.

This year, in Ethiopia, 10 UN Volunteers decided to overcome emerging obstacles. Leveraging the power of e-communication platforms, they embarked on an online three-month journey to connect with young, passionate Ethiopian students. The goal of this bridge-building coaching initiative was to enhance digital, communication and presentation skills and to support young mentees in facing challenges in identifying future career paths. This collaboration was of mutual benefit to the personal development of both mentors and mentees.