Time to get serious - UNV's State of the World's Volunteerism

In an ambitious review of the current picture of volunteering around the world, the United Nations Volunteer Program's "State of the World's Volunteerism Report: Universal Values for Global Well-Being" goes beyond the usual scope of development goals, and looks to the role that volunteering can play in creating harmonious and inclusive societies, and helping individuals feel better about themselves.

Released on International Volunteer Day, during the 10th anniversary of the International Year of Volunteers, and written with contributions from IAVE and many other organizations, the report discusses the universal nature of volunteering, and how it is a part of every human society. At the same time, the report also points out some commonly held misconceptions about volunteering, which mean that it is seldom taken seriously as a real force for change.

The latest polls and surverys, including the Johns Hopkins University initiative and the CIVICUS civil society index, are summarized to give an idea of the current scope and scale of volunteering. 

A key focus of the report is the call for volunteering to be included on the peace and development agendas. Volunteering "generates a sense of social cohesian and helps to create resillience in confronting the issues" of violence, conflict, disasters, inequality, disease, and so on. Unfortunately, according to the report, due to the misunderstandings about volunteering, it is often overlooked, or at best minimized, in core discussions on the real issues of today, which is to the detriment of us all.

Perhaps the "feel-good" factor of volunteering, which is also highlighted in the report, adds to the percepiton that volunteering is a nice thing for societies to have, but not a core concern for the political agenda.

You can download and read the full report on the UNV website.