Helping Hearts, stamps issued by United Nations Postal Administration to mark International Year of Volunteers (IYV) 2001
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27. In 2001, UNV served as the official UN focal point of the International Year of Volunteers (IYV). Governments, the UN system, civil society, private sector and other stakeholders during IYV and subsequent years sought to promote, facilitate and recognize volunteering, increasing the integration of volunteer contributions to achieve the MDGs and peace and development agendas. By 2011, as UNV marked the tenth anniversary of the IYV, over 70 countries had adopted laws or policies on volunteerism. However, detailed accounts from Governments, civil society organizations, businesses, researchers and UN entities have noted cases of insufficient national progress in implementation, owing to the lack of designated focal points, inadequate coordinating mechanisms and the need for supportive resources and policies. At the same time, volunteer action in the fields of environment, human rights protection and disaster response grew significantly. From 2000 to 2008, the volunteer sector saw a fourfold increase in the number of papers published on volunteering. In 2012, an online global public survey conducted in connection with volunteerism, showed 77 per cent of over 2,000 respondents were of the view that the impact of volunteerism was more recognized today than a decade ago. Although the full impact of this recognition is not yet known, anecdotal evidence shows clearly that progress has been made.
28. The publication of the first State of the World’s Volunteerism report in 2011 highlighted the fundamental role volunteerism plays across the globe in peace and development. It also identified the gaps that exist in this regard. UNV, in collaboration with other volunteer involving organizations, will need to upscale efforts to provide evidence and knowledge in order to demonstrate the relevance of volunteerism to the new development framework. The launch of the State of the World’s Volunteerism report in New York. (UNV, 2011)