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IVR welcomes the second International Year of Volunteers.
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We welcome the UN resolution proclaiming 2026 the International Year of Volunteers for Sustainable Development, inviting all Member States, organisations of the United Nations system,
other international and regional organisations and other relevant stakeholders, including civil society, the private sector and academia, to observe the International Year. As a Research Centre specialising in Volunteering Research and as part of the University of East Anglia we will do our part.
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Together with UN Volunteers we seek to contribute to the recognition of volunteering during IVY2026.
As our first contribution, we will open our archive of over 25 years volunteering research as an open access resource, including our Volunteering Impact Assessment Toolkit and our 25th anniversary book ‘Volunteering Research and the Test of Experience’.
We believe that every contribution matters. Therefore, over the coming 12 months we will develop and share 12 case studies from around the globe, of what difference volunteer involvement makes even if it often goes unnoticed. We will be looking especially at volunteering outside established organisations, which so often does not get captured, despite evidence that most volunteering is undertaken like this.
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As a partner in CivicUEA we also welcome the draft resolution submitted by the President of the General Assembly: Doha Political Declaration of the “World Social Summit” under the title “the Second World Summit for Social Development” in particular section 31.l.
“We reaffirm our collective commitment to promoting social integration by fostering sustainable, inclusive, just, stable, safe, equitable and cohesive societies based on the respect for human dignity, promotion and protection of human rights and principles of non-discrimination, equal opportunity, solidarity, tolerance and full and equal participation for all. In this regard, we commit to: ….(l) Encouraging volunteerism at all levels – local, national and international and recognizing that these efforts contribute to social cohesion by promoting civic engagement”.
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We share this commitment and join the international call for action.
We also actively support the volunteer involvement activities of the University of East Anglia, in particular its Employer Supported Volunteering Scheme and its support for Student Volunteering through the Student Union, Alumni Volunteering and the career services.
Our current programme of work continues IVR’s mission to support and undertake high quality volunteering research to bring about a world where the power and energy of volunteering is recognised and where volunteering research can thrive. Volunteering and volunteering research can thus be widely recognised as making a distinctive difference to individuals and communities so that volunteers themselves can feel safe and confident about their decision to volunteer and so that communities can grow stronger.
IVR was set up in 1997 to undertake high quality research on volunteering. It was established as a partnership between Volunteering England and the University of East London. In 2013 with the merger of Volunteering England and the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) it moved to NCVO and subsequently in 2019 to the University of East Anglia, becoming a Research Centre. In 2002 IVR jointly evaluated the first International Year of Volunteers.
Get in touch with us by emailing info.ivr@uea.ac.uk
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Video
IVR has created a series of short animations on volunteering for beginners
Volunteering for Beginners in seven and a half minutes
And if you haven’t got seven and a half minutes, here are short videos on
Where and how can I volunteer?
What difference does volunteering make?
What are the benefits for the volunteer?
