If you read the CIVICUS mission, vision and values you will not find any specific mention of volunteerism. Yet, volunteerism is fundamental to our efforts and that of our members, partners and broader constituents to strengthen citizen participation and to promote a more just and equitable world.  

Volunteers from all socio-economic and cultural backgrounds have helped to create and claim civic space, advance human rights, raise awareness about poverty and inequality, promote peace, foster social inclusion and respond to humanitarian and socio-economic crisis. Not only is volunteerism a mechanism for confronting the major challenges facing humanity today, it is also a key strategy for creating a global community of informed, active and engaged citizens, which CIVICUS seeks.  

On, the International Volunteer Day (IVD) for Economic and Social Development which falls on December 5, CIVICUS would like to recognize the centrality of volunteerism to the realisation of its mission and vision as well as to celebrate the myriad contributions of volunteerism to civil society. In doing this, CIVICUS is pleased to be joined by two of its partners, and leaders of the volunteering movement, the International Association for Volunteer Effort (IAVE) and United Nations Volunteers (UNV) Programme. Their statements in this edition of e-CIVICUS , remind us of the diverse actions undertaken by volunteers to promote development, human rights and social change, and the need to value the full range of these actions, from charity to activism.

This message is also the focus of a joint CIVICUS-IAVE- UNV discussion paper launched earlier this year, entitled “Volunteering and Social Activism: Pathways for participation in human development”. The paper draws on stories of volunteer action and perspectives from representatives of a broad-spectrum of volunteer-involving organisations to highlight the diverse ways in which volunteerism contributes to broadening and deepening participation in human development.   

In celebrating volunteerism, CIVICUS is also joined in this edition by its members, partners and supporters involved with the volunteering movement. Their articles cover a range of topics, which together reflect many of the key trends and issues in volunteerism worldwide today. [If you are interested in learning more about the current state of volunteerism, see the 28 July 2008 Follow-up to the implementation of the International Year of the Volunteer: Report of the Secretary General.]  

You will read two articles, which focused on how improved technology and communication are creating new opportunities for volunteerism. TakingITGlobal shares its experience using online volunteers, to help create an online multi-lingual community of youth, informed and inspired to make a difference. A contributor from Brazil , challenges us to think about the power of social networking tools to empower individuals to be producers of volunteer opportunities, rather than consumers.   

An article on Teach India, the biggest corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative undertaken anywhere in the world involving a consortium of NGOs, corporate houses, schools, colleges, orphanages and common citizens, speaks to the increasing interest of the private sector in corporate social accountability initiatives.  

Another contributor asks us to recognise that while international volunteering has grown sharply in recent years, we don’t actually have a full understanding of its impact. He stresses the need to develop and utilize measurement tools to improve the efficacy and accountability of our volunteer sending programmes.  

The final two articles focus our attention on the need to respond to demographic shifts in the developed and developing countries, when creating volunteer opportunities. In addition to this, one of the articles reminds us, that in many countries around the world, there is a great deal of work to be done to promote a vibrant culture of volunteerism.