Special Meeting Announcement:
Join us online on Monday, 26 January, 2026 at 9:00 a.m. New York Time for our side event at the 2026 ECOSOC Partnership Forum to discuss “Transformative and Impactful Volunteering – A Vision for IVY 2026” to celebrate the beginning of the International Volunteer Year for Sustainable Development.
The meeting Zoom link is https://us06web.zoom.us/j/9894415765?pwd=TmxwSFY0YVI1QzBRUGtUdzVNb0EvUT09&omn=82342407615
On 5 December 2025, the UN launched the 2026 International Volunteer Year for Sustainable Development (IVY 2026). This marks a pivotal moment to recognise the power of volunteers to advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and to strengthen the global systems that enable volunteering to flourish. This side event builds on recent initiatives of the State of the World’s Volunteerism Report (SWVR), which focuses on measuring the impact of volunteering and strengthening evidence to inform policy and practice; the Global Volunteering Standard (3rd Edition), which defines and promotes good practice for organisations that support volunteers worldwide; and the Call to Action for the Future of Volunteering, a global advocacy platform developed through consultations with over 14,000 stakeholders across 163 countries. Volunteering makes an immense contribution to sustainable development, contributing to impact across education, health, equality, climate action and many other areas, and it has the potential to achieve far more. To unlock its full impact, volunteers and the organisations that support them must be recognised, resourced, and protected within a strong enabling environment.
Convened by Volunteer Groups Alliance, Global Volunteering Forum, MY World Mexico, France Volontaires, VSO, Habitat for Humanity
The Volunteer Groups Alliance (VGA) promotes and highlights the contribution of volunteers in delivering the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
VGA is a global NGO bringing together a coalition of more than 100 organisations and networks working in more than 150 countries that contribute to sustainable development through volunteering in all its forms.
In preparation for the International Year of Volunteers for Sustainable Development in 2026, VGA was very active at the United Nations High-level Political Forum in July 2025 to amply the voice of volunteers in delivering the SDGs. A report of our activities can be found at https://docs.google.com/document/d/173g3-9vij0q3sXEMpYLBSdqvLfdCOBmg/edit
And learn more about plans for the International Volunteer Year at https://forum-ids.org/international-volunteer-year-2026/
VGA supports its member organisations by
connecting those working with Volunteer Groups across the world to help amplify the collective impact of volunteers in national, regional, and global SDG follow up and review processes
gaining recognition for the crucial role of volunteers in successfully monitoring progress on the SDGs at local, regional, and national levels and in UN processes
celebrating achievement on the advancement of the SDGs
As UN Member States and international institutions contribute to the Decade of Action (2020-2030), the Volunteer Groups Alliance is imagining a world in which the phenomenal resources, social capital and insights of volunteers mean they are truly in the driving seat of development. We know that these goals can be achieved in the following three ways:
Firstly,
reimagining through knowledge, by integrating evidence on volunteering at all stages in the 2030 Agenda processes at the national level and together in the United Nations.
Evidence is critical for the recognition of volunteer contributions on sustainable development. In 2022, 55% of countries mentioned volunteering in their Voluntary National Reviews on their SDG progress, and 9% reported the integration of volunteering into development plans, policies and strategies. Member States should cooperate with volunteer-involving and civil society organizations to include information on the scale, contribution, and impact of volunteering, including informal volunteering.
Secondly,
reimagining through dialogue, by creating new spaces to hear the voices of people taking action for the Sustainable Development Goals.
Millions of volunteers from all walks of life are playing a critical role not only in delivering the Sustainable Development Goals but also in supporting their accountability. Governments should engage volunteers in monitoring sustainable development at all levels as part of a wider commitment to civic engagement, accepting citizen-generated data and other evidence to complement official processes. Member States should also consult communities on sustainable development policies at all levels, take advantage of new forms of technology, and work with volunteers to listen to and amplify the voices of those who are frequently excluded or left behind.
Thirdly,
reimagining how we work together to partner with the world’s one billion volunteers, boosting the role of Member States as “connectors” and enabling partnerships to ensure robust cross- sector volunteering practice.
Strengthening partnerships across sectors is essential to advance the state of volunteering globally. It is imperative to bring together governments, civil society, the private sector, academia, and the international community in a collective conversation featuring multiple perspectives.
Volunteering is often the first step towards active citizenship and can help strengthen people’s ownership of their community’s development.
We commend those governments that recognize the value of systematic legislation, policies, structures, and programs for volunteer engagement and that have structures to enable more people to volunteer.
Where governments have created a conducive environment for civic engagement, and more particularly for volunteers to participate – or where they have been responsive to volunteer-led community initiatives – volunteers are more effective in SDG implementation.
Volunteers, too, are important for holding Member States accountable for their commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals.
Every day across the world, millions of ordinary citizens give their time to volunteer, making a vital and often under-recognised contribution to the delivery of the SDGs. United Nations Volunteers (UNV) estimates that one billion people annually contribute their time and energy to volunteer, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has estimated that volunteering adds 2.4% to global Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Visit UNV’s Knowledge Portal on Volunteerism http://knowledge.unv.org/ for more information.
VGA calls for Member States to
formally recognize the contribution of volunteering to the implementation of the SDGs in their Voluntary National Reviews
ensure that Volunteer Groups are fully recognized and supported in the national plans and strategies for implementing the 2030 Agenda
support the participation of non-governmental actors in the SDG follow up and review processes
ensure the accountability, transparency and review framework for the SDGs involves community consultation at all levels, including representation of the most marginalised voices, as well as the volunteers that work closest to them
collect data on the contribution of volunteers in delivering the SDGs