Key issues impacting young people
IAVE and its members have been inspired by the investment and action of young volunteers, and see how engaged youth are leading successful volunteer campaigns around the world. How can we empower youth volunteers? What are the key issues affecting young people today?
IAVE commissioned a series of strategic papers on topics impacting young people’s lives. Today we announce two more of these papers:
- Youth Volunteering and Well-Being: Exploring the Benefits of Engaging in Civic Action, and
- Youth Volunteering and Activism: Exploring Pathways to Enact Change.
These papers join a previous insights paper on Youth Volunteering, Employability, and Sustainable Livelihoods: Exploring the Role of the Corporate Sector, and a challenge paper on Youth Volunteering and Employability.
About the author
Dr. Chris Millora, author of the series, is Lecturer in Education and Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellow at Goldsmiths, University of London. He leads the 3-year research project ‘Literacies of Dissent’ (literaciesofdissent.com) exploring the literacy and learning dimensions of youth social movements in the Global South.
Millora was the lead researcher of UN Volunteers’ State of the World’s Volunteerism Report 2022 and author of the upcoming research on youth and student organizing during COVID-19 commissioned by the Global Campaign for Education. He holds an PhD in Education and Development at the University of East Anglia (UK).
Together, these papers demonstrate how volunteering is adding value to the lives of young people globally by giving them a sense of belonging, a sense of purpose, and an opportunity to effect positive change.
Companion webinars
In conjunction with the challenge papers, IAVE is delivering a series of four webinars focused on youth volunteering. Each webinar is supported by a briefing paper that sets out the key evidence and issues.
- Webinar 2: Youth Volunteering and Wellbeing: How Volunteering Can Make a Difference
27th June 2023 8.00am ET to 9.30am ET
There has been increasing recognition of the importance of mental health and well-being in social and personal development, particularly among young people. In this webinar, a global panel will explore the role volunteering can play in enhancing well-being. Against the backdrop of current evidence on the links between youth volunteering and youth well-being, the panel will reflect on what needs to be in place to support volunteer involvement and have a positive impact. - Webinar 3: Youth Volunteering and Activism: How Volunteering Empowers and Builds Leadership to Affect Change
12th September 2023 8.00am ET to 9.30am ET
In many communities around the world, young people play a vital role in the journey towards social justice in various communities. In this webinar, a global panel will explore current evidence about youth activism, its scale, relevance and the relationship between activism/volunteerism and youth empowerment/leadership, giving voice and taking action to make an impact and affect change.
The fourth and final webinar will explore the broader theme of Youth Volunteering and Social Change as it relates to the issues emerging from the three previous webinars.
