FORUM on International Volunteering

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 highlighting the impact of volunteering on communities, the conference theme is ‘Volunteering to Change the World’. As this IYV +10 conference is to review the impact of volunteers since IYV and to assess what’s needed to move forward, it is time for the world volunteering community to seriously look into itself to see what we have achieved, where we have fallen short, and how we can organize ourselves better to impact societies and the world we live in more strategically and in tangible, felt ways. Through this conference, it is hoped that volunteer capital is truly recognized by governments, by businesses and by the not-for-profit sector itself for what it has to offer as an equal partner in building communities in a sustained manner.