The United Nations General Assembly has proclaimed 2026 the
International Year of Volunteers for Sustainable Development.
2026 marks 25 years since the first UN International Year of
Volunteers in 2001.
The International Year of Volunteers for Sustainable Development in 2026 is a call for UN Member States to make volunteerism an integral cog in their development pathways to drive forward the Global Goals -- and a recognition that only through collective action and solidarity can we summon the strength to address the challenges that affect us all. -- UNDP Administrator, Achim Steiner.
The hashtag for the International Year of Volunteers for
Sustainable Development in 2026 is #IVY2026. (yes, it's
confusing, since the original was IYV, not IVY).
Your nonprofit, NGO, charity, community program or other
initiative needs to be thinking NOW, not just in January,
regarding how to leverage the International Year of Volunteers
2026. This page/portal is meant to help you do that.
IYV 2001 was an amazing phenomenon to behold, and I was proud to
be a part of it; I worked at UN Volunteers then, directing the Online Volunteering Service
(formerly a part of NetAid), as well as being one of the managers of
the UNITeS initiative (United
Nations Internet Technology Service).
But so much of what happened regarding the first International
Year of Volunteer has been scrubbed from the Internet. Unless you
know the URLs of long defunct web sites created in association
with IYV 2001, so you can look them up on archive.org, you can't
access much information online at all regarding this global
phenomenon.
So I created a page on my web site, International Year of Volunteers
2001: A review of what it was, what it did, what it
accomplished. It provides details on the origins of
the original International Year of Volunteers, a list of URLs of
defunct official web sites affiliated with the year that can be
found on archive.org, links to the original, extensive resources for UN organizations and others
to recognize the year in some way, and a list of key events
that happened in association with the year.
For instance, UNV launched www.worldvolunteerweb.org as a result of IYV2001. The site provided a global one-stop-shop for information, resources and organizations linked to volunteerism. It aimed to represent the diversity of volunteerism in all of its cultural forms, bringing global ideals to local voluntary actions. It had a goal to mobilize individuals, organizations and networks to help achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The June 2004 versions of the web site archived at archive.org are best for current reference. The web site was updated in 2007 and then stopped being updated, and eventually UNV gave up ownership of the URL.
Sharon Capeling-Alakija was the
Executive Coordinator of United Nations Volunteers during
IYV 2001. As the international focal point, UNV, based in
Bonn, Germany, took the lead in all organizing and
promotion regarding the year internationally. Within UNV,
there was a dedicated staff of five to seven full-time
employees working on IYV2001.
UN
Volunteers has a knowledge base for IVY2026. It will
soon be populated with logos, took kits, a database of
affiliated events and other information about the year.
IYV
2026 resources from the International Forum for Volunteering
in Development (Forum), a global network of
organisations that work with volunteers to achieve sustainable
development goals.
Council of Europe Committee for the International Volunteer Year 2026.
International
Association for Volunteer Effort (IAVE)'s IYV2026 resources.
Volunteer
Canada / Bénévoles Canada's IYV2026 resources.
A
list of all United Nations' International Years (past
and upcoming).
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want to volunteer
Disclaimer: No guarantee of accuracy or suitability is made by the poster/distributor. This material is provided as is, with no expressed or implied warranty.
