FORUM » News

Interview: Volunteerism is essential in sustainable development: UNV

FORUM — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 14:32:30 +0000

BONN, Germany, March 1 — People’s voluntary involvement is essential in sustainable development, and the whole world should recognize the importance of volunteerism for development and peace, head of the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) program Flavia Pansieri said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua. ...more

Message from FORUM at the UN Special Session on 5th December 2011, to commemorate The International Year of the Volunteer + 10 and launch of the first State of the Volunteer Report

FORUM — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 18:39:47 +0000

The International FORUM on Development Service (known as ‘FORUM’) would like to take this opportunity to congratulate civil society bodies, decision makers and individual volunteers all over the world for your fabulous achievements and work throughout the year. We would also like to acknowledge this momentous IYV+10 event here at the UN. It has been a collective effort, led by UNV, to have volunteering recognised as a vital way of achieving positive and sustainable development outcomes. ...more

Australian Volunteers International Celebrates 60 Years of volunteering

FORUM — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 09:17:50 +0000

16 June 2011 marks the occasion of Australia’s first official international volunteer, Herb Feith, setting sail from Port Melbourne to start his volunteer assignment in Indonesia. ...more

Peace Corps Celebrates 50 Years

FORUM — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 09:14:51 +0000

In 2011, the Peace Corps will commemorate 50 years of promoting peace and friendship around the world. Peace Corps invites you to support their mission and legacy of service and to join in Peace Corps celebrations and activities throughout 2011. For more information http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=about.fiftieth ...more

Asia-Pacific Volunteering Groups Gathering in Manila

FORUM — Mon, 09 May 2011 00:20:17 +0000

Manila, the Philippines: “Build hope, change lives: volunteer!” The spirit of a major gathering of volunteering organizations in Manila from 3-4 May, which will look at making the world a better place through citizen action. ...more

Brussels Declaration on the Role of Volunteering

FORUM — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 15:37:24 +0000

The CEV Symposium “Volunteering as a means of empowerment and social inclusion – A bridge between the European Years 2010 and 2011” took place in Brussels in the framework of the Belgian EU Presidency, on 6-8 December 2010. The event gathered over 150 participants from 25 countries from all over Europe and beyond, among which professionals from the volunteering sector; decision-makers, such as MEP Silvia Costa, Belgian Minister President of the Flemish Community Kris Peeters, or the leader of the EC Taskforce for the European Year of Volunteering John Macdonald; experts in the field of the fight against poverty and social exclusion such as EAPN Director Fintan Farrell or Belgian Researcher Carmen Mathijssen; as well as volunteers and people experiencing poverty and social exclusion. ...more

International Women’s Day 2011

FORUM — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 03:57:35 +0000

This year marks the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day. The day was commemorated for the first time on 19 March 1911 in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland, following its establishment during the Socialist International meeting the prior year. More than one million women and men attended rallies on that first commemoration. ...more

Helping Train Leaders of the Future, on International Women’s Day

FORUM — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 03:48:48 +0000

On the centenary of International Women’s Day, the Australian Government has announced it will work with World YWCA to help young women in the Asia Pacific become future leaders. ...more

Volunteering Trend Toward the Internet and Young People

FORUM — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 03:53:43 +0000

Minister for Social Inclusion Tanya Plibersek today released a new report which finds volunteers have a growing preference for online volunteering and more young people want to get involved. ...more

The 21st IAVE World Volunteer Conference will take place in Singapore on January 24 – 27, 2011.

FORUM — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 18:43:29 +0000

Hosted by Singapore’s National Volunteer & Philanthropy Center, the event will run in conjunction with the tenth anniversary of the UN International Year of Volunteers (IYV +10) and IAVE’s 40th anniversary. In the tradition of recent IAVE conferences, an affiliated Youth Volunteer Conference will be held on January 21 – 23. In the spirit of [...]

International Volunteer Day

FORUM — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 15:26:56 +0000

More babies are being delivered safely in Cambodia, more children are getting a basic education in Papua New Guinea, and farmers in Ghana have increased rice production, all thanks to the work of more than a thousand Australian volunteers. ...more

Organisations Worldwide Join Efforts to Boost Volunteerism

FORUM — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 18:22:34 +0000

Today, on the International Volunteer Day for Economic and Social Development (IVD), international volunteer-based organizations around the world launch a year-long campaign aimed at better understanding, promoting and supporting volunteerism. Annually, the volunteer sector contributes US$ 400 billion to the global economy, according to the Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies. But this contribution often goes unnoticed. ...more

Consultative Stakeholders’ Meeting on the International Year of Volunteers + 10 (IYV+10)

joyce — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 09:36:43 +0000

The year 2011 marks the 10th anniversary of the International Year of Volunteers (IYV) in 2001. There’s opportunities throughout 2011 to showcase the diversity, breadth and depth of volunteering worldwide, raise the profile of volunteering and mobilize many more volunteers. ...more

Better Aid. More Aid. Just Aid. - ACFID releases its Call to the Parties - 2010 Federal Election

FORUM — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 04:13:52 +0000

The Australian Council for International Development (ACFID) is the peak council for Australian non-government organisations (NGOs) working in the field of international aid and development. ACFID has more than 70 members – including Australian Volunteers International (AVI) – operating in over 100 developing countries. ...more

Aiding Symptoms, Not Causes - Canada's new focus on front-line service delivery in development assistance misses a big part of the problem.

FORUM — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 05:10:19 +0000

Canada isn’t a big player on the global stage in terms of economic and financial resources. We don’t have military might, we don’t have much political clout, and at $5.2 billion – only .3 per cent of the country’s GNI – our aid budget is a drop in the bucket. In the past we have leveraged our rather meagre resources into a solid international role through creative ideas, skilled diplomacy, support for multilateral institutions, and a commitment to the principles of human rights and international justice. ...more

FORUM Executive Board Meeting hosted by AVI

FORUM — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 13:46:29 +0000

Between 15th-16th March, AVI hosted a meeting of the Executive Board of the International FORUM on Development Service (known as “FORUM”). As FORUM regularly commissions research on issues related to international volunteering – the Melbourne meeting was a great opportunity to help shape the theme and program of the 2010 Annual FORUM Conference as well as progress research plans and strategies for information sharing, learning and networking between FORUM representatives. AVI staff and FORUM Members directly benefited from the opportunity to work together in person and create a closer connection for cross-organisational linkages to strengthen the contribution of international volunteering. The flurry of email exchange since the meeting has been a testament to this! ...more

FORUM Executive Board Member awarded an OBE in the Queen’s New Years Honours list

FORUM — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 14:40:35 +0000

“On behalf of fellow members of the FORUM Executive Board, I would like to congratulate Brian Rockliffe of VSO on being awarded an OBE in the UK New Year Honours List. The award was given for “services to International Development” and is indeed well-deserved recognition of his outstanding contribution to the international volunteer sector over many years. FORUM and its Members have benefited greatly over the years from Brian’s active involvement in our activities and his current role on the Executive Board.” ...more

UNV announces winners of the 2009 “Online Volunteering Award

FORUM — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 18:10:32 +0000

The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme today announced the winners of the “Online Volunteering Award 2009”, honouring the ‘outstanding’ contributions of volunteers who work entirely over the internet to contribute to peace and development by helping non-profit development organizations. ...more

International Volunteer Day – 5 December 2009

FORUM — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 02:32:09 +0000

Volunteering for our planet

Out climate is changing and will affect us all. Temperatures are rising and this may bring natural disasters such as storms, flooding, droughts and wildfires. It will hit the most vulnerable the hardest. ...more

2011 to be the European year of volunteering

FORUM — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 20:27:58 +0000

The European Commission has decided to propose that 2011 be designated the "European Year of Volunteering". The Council is expected to endorse this decision, after the European Parliament has been consulted, by the beginning of next year.