Held during International Volunteer Year 2026, the Roundtable will focus on how volunteer action can strengthen solidarity and practical cooperation in the region and globally.
Gulbara Sultanova, Chair of the Civil Society Affairs Committee of the Ministry of Culture and Information, said, “UNV is our strategic partner. We are confident that further strengthening of our cooperation will lead to even more significant results.”
Мероприятие проводится в контексте Международного года добровольцев (МГД) во имя устойчивого развития 2026 и нацелено на укрепление солидарности и практического сотрудничества в сфере волонтёрства как в азиатском регионе, так и на глобальном уровне.
Held during International Volunteer Year 2026, the Roundtable will focus on how volunteer action can strengthen solidarity and practical cooperation in the region and globally.
“I left Namibia at 15 years old and went into exile. We were refugees during those years.” Kirsti Mukwiilongo was a teenager when she left her home in Namibia. It was the height of the liberation struggle, and safety lay beyond the border. Like many others, she moved between countries—Angola, then Zambia—finishing secondary school as a refugee. Those years marked her for life. “We were assisted by other countries, by other people,” she recalls. The experience stayed with her—shaping how she responds and what matters to her. “That gave me compassion. It gave me purpose.”
Years later, she did something few people do. She returned—not to her own safety, but to instability. This time, not as someone needing help, but as someone ready to carry weight.
Held during International Volunteer Year 2026, the Roundtable will focus on how volunteer action can strengthen solidarity and practical cooperation in the region and globally.
Partners will review results from UNV’s Full Funding and Special Voluntary Fund, exchange lessons, and explore new ways to work together as priorities evolve across Asia and in the UN system.
For more than half a century, several traditional development partners have been among the most consistent backers of global solidarity through the United Nations Volunteers (UNV), quietly supporting, funding and sustaining it. Since UNV’s creation in 1970, traditional development partners have remained among its most consistent supporters. For example, Europe’s imprint on UNV is visible in leadership, participation, and policy influence. Four of UNV’s ten Executive Coordinators have come from European countries. Between 2007 and 2025, around eleven per cent of all UN Volunteers originated from the European Union or traditional European donor countries. European governments have also consistently spoken in support of volunteerism at the UNDP Executive Board and backed global commitments such as the declaration of 2026 as the International Volunteer Year.
The contribution of traditional partners to UNV is not symbolic. It is practical and strategic.
When Kei Tanaka arrived at the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) field office in Uganda as an Associate Livelihood and Economic Inclusion Officer, there was no confirmed budget for livelihood activities. Her task was clear: expand economic opportunities for refugees and host communities.
“I proactively engaged external stakeholders, including the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and private sector partners, to explore collaboration,”
The United Nations General Assembly declared 2026 the International Volunteer Year—setting the stage for a global celebration of volunteers.
