IAVE is a global voice for volunteering, advocating for more volunteering, done more effectively, to have greater impact. We are the connective tissue that enables volunteer leaders worldwide to stand in solidarity with one another, working together on issues of critical importance to the field.
The framework for IAVE’s advocacy efforts is the Universal Declaration on Volunteering. It was developed and affirmed by the IAVE Board of Directors at the 1990 IAVE World Volunteer Conference in Paris. In January 2001, it was revised and re-issued at the kick-off of the United Nations International Year of Volunteers at the IAVE World Volunteer Conference in Amsterdam.
It reads in part:
“This Declaration supports the right of every woman, man and child to associate freely and to volunteer regardless of their cultural and ethnic origin, religion, age, gender, and physical, social or economic condition.
All people in the world should have the right to freely offer their time, talent, and energy to others and to their communities through individual and collective action, without expectation of financial reward.”
It is toward realization of this core belief that IAVE works and invites others in the global volunteer community to join with us.