Over a billion people volunteer their time, skills, and experience to help improve their communities. From providing practical support to vulnerable children and adults to advising on sophisticated technical and legal issues, volunteers are present at all levels of society. Each one brings a specific set of skills to their tasks. To mark this occasion, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed sends a message of thanks to volunteers, who, she says, "bring concrete solutions to development challenges and for the common good."

A large part of being a volunteer is that you have ownership of your solutions – that's the story of Hajara Maimuna Idi, a community volunteer in Borno State, northeast Nigeria.

Volunteering is not just about responding to an immediate crisis. It's also about making sure the affected population is well on its way, sustaining itself.

One volunteer is Omar Basam Abu Hamad. At 22, Omar is a paramedic and a qualified teacher. He lives in Al-Fawwar refugee camp, south of Hebron in the West Bank, where there is only one health center to meet the needs of 9,500 people. Omar and other volunteers provide health services, including psychological support, to people living in refugee camps.

The Astana Civil Service Hub (ACSH) has been a flagship initiative of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the Government of Kazakhstan since 2013. Some 42 countries participate in this knowledge exchange platform. 

COP27 represents the largest annual gathering on climate action. In particular, it aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, strengthen commitments to finance climate action in the Global South countries and ensure broad engagement towards a climate-resilient, carbon-neutral future.

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.