In 2016, 30 national UN Volunteers served in China to support the SDGs and inclusive development. 19 Chinese nationals served as UN Volunteers overseas to promote peace and development. 293 Chinese nationals volunteered online through UNV’s Online Volunteering service.

The two-day conference is co-hosted by the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme and the Beijing Volunteer Service Federation (BVF), and aims to continue building a strong Southern constituency and voice in international volunteering and co-create new ideas on how volunteering can be effectively mainstreamed to support national development priorities by low- and middle-income countries. It also aims to identify new opportunities for innovative partnerships to jointly overcome development challenges through international volunteering.

The two-day conference is co-hosted by the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme and the Beijing Volunteer Service Federation (BVF), and aims to continue building a strong Southern constituency and voice in international volunteering and co-create new ideas on how volunteering can be effectively mainstreamed to support national development priorities by low- and middle-income countries. It also aims to identify new opportunities for innovative partnerships to jointly overcome development challenges through international volunteering.

POLICY CHALLENGE WITH GRADUATE STUDENTS IN CHINA

Globally one billion people are engaged in volunteering – representing a powerful, cross-cutting means of implementation for the Sustainable Development Goals. However, there remains a huge demand for empirical evidence on the value of volunteering for sustainable development. China has experienced strong growth and innovation in its volunteering infrastructure, and today there is a pressing need to evaluate and share innovative Chinese approaches to volunteering for sustainable development.

Globally one billion people are engaged in volunteering – representing a powerful, cross-cutting means of implementation for the Sustainable Development Goals. However, there remains a huge demand for empirical evidence on the value of volunteering for sustainable development. China has experienced strong growth and innovation in its volunteering infrastructure, and today there is a pressing need to evaluate and share innovative Chinese approaches to volunteering for sustainable development.

The volunteer researchers are currently deploying to 15 countries to gather evidence for the 2018 State of the World’s Volunteerism Report (SWVR) on the theme of “Resilient Communities: The Role of Volunteerism in a Turbulent World”.

The training is a way to inform and prepare the youth volunteers to better understand the role of UN Youth Volunteers in the context of the United Nations. The Governments of Korea, Ireland, Luxembourg and China are funding the volunteer assignments of these UN Youth Volunteers. After their training, they will serve in Myanmar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ethiopia, Fiji, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Kosovo, Mongolia, State of Palestine, Panama, Sri Lanka, Timor Leste, Zimbabwe, Viet Nam, Senegal, Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Thailand.

“The UN could not deploy, and Security Council mandates could not be delivered, without UN Volunteers,” said Olivier Adam, United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme Executive Coordinator, recounting UNV’s value proposition in the words of UN partners, the Department of Field Support (DFS) and the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), as he led a side event to the meeting of the Executive Board of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations

During a side event held today at the 2016 UNV Partnership Forum, Mr. Richard Dictus, Executive Coordinator of the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme and Mr. Ying Wang, Deputy Secretary General of Beijing Volunteer Service Federation (BVF), announced the new cooperation project “Strengthening China’s Involvement in the Development of International Volunteer Service through South-South Cooperation and the Belt and Road Initiative.”