High Level and Thematic Debates of the President of the 68th session of the United Nations General Assembly

The International Forum for Volunteering in Development (Forum) believes that volunteering is critical to people-centred development. Diverse people coming together to share experience, skills and knowledge is fundamental to the post-2015 agenda. We believe that the engagement of young people in volunteering is particularly important. The full participation of women, the young and civil society in the post-2015 Development Agenda is critical if the vision of the new agenda is to be successfully implemented. This cannot happen unless the barriers of inequalities, discrimination and marginalisation are eliminated.

Across the world, evidence is increasingly clear that volunteering within and between communities and countries encourages the development of a vibrant civil society and of active citizenship. It is also clear that people-to-people relationships through volunteering are a major means of building capacity and exchanging skills – so reducing inequities and marginalisation.

People-centred development can be achieved through reciprocal engagement in volunteering activities. When this can be further enhanced through adequate resourcing and the planned provision of a cohesive structure for volunteering activities, lives can be transformed and sustainable results can be achieved. Volunteering provides the skills that are needed for the readiness to take up job opportunities or to more fully enable communities to work together for their mutual support and progress. At the same time, the collective voice of citizens can be encouraged through such shared activities and the articulation of a shared, inclusive vision of a better world.

Forum believes that in developing sustainable development goals related to young people, women, and civil society, as well as those related to partnership, the reduction of inequity, inclusive growth and to governance, member states should give consideration to the inclusion of targets and measures related to volunteering and to the support provided by governments to enable this to be effective as a means of people-centred development.