Annual Report 2011: Volunteering for our Future

Our UNV Annual Report 2011, "Volunteering for our Future," is about sustainable peace and development

Our UNV Annual Report 2011, "Volunteering for our Future," is about sustainable peace and development: meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It lifts people out of poverty, while at the same time protecting the natural systems that support economic growth.

Volunteerism contributes to sustainable development by engaging people at all levels of society to bring about transformational change in communities.

In 2001, the United Nations General Assembly recommended that governments recognize the potential contribution of volunteerism to achieving sustainable development goals…Recognizing and building strategically on rich, local traditions of voluntary self-help and mutual aid can open the way to building up a new constituency in support of development efforts.

Excerpt from the 2011 State of the World’s Volunteerism Report, p. 93