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If volunteering is to contribute meaningfully to sustainable development beyond 2030, we need to think less about how individual volunteer assignments incorporate global challenges, and more about how volunteering can mobilise people to act on the bigger political, economic and social forces in their own countries that shape those challenges globally. For international volunteer cooperation organisations (IVCOs), we believe this means a decisive shift in emphasis: more action ‘at home’.
Volunteering for development is grounded in values of generosity, service, and solidarity. These values remain essential because volunteering begins with people, relationships, trust, and a willingness to contribute. Yet in today’s development landscape, where social risks are more complex and civic space is under pressure, good intentions are not enough
19-23 October 2026 | Paris, France
Registration is now LIVE for the 2026 Global Volunteering Forum!
Join us in Paris, as we celebrate the UN’s International Volunteer Year.
We’re again bringing together leaders from across the globe to help tackle the biggest shifts in volunteering, partnerships, impact and innovation.
The conference report ‘Strengthening Civil Society in Challenging Times’ captures key themes from the 2025 International Volunteer Cooperation Organisations Conference (IVCO 2025). It reflects the collaborative efforts of the IVCO 2025 Organising Team. IVCO was organised by the Global Volunteering Forum with co-hosts the Cooperation Committee for Cambodia (CCC) and in partnership with Australian Volunteers International (AVI), France Volontaires and VSO Cambodia.
The report was written by Dr. Sathish Rao Appalanaidu and Fazirah Naser, with the support of conference facilitators who assisted with note-taking and documentation: Yakshika Vats, Kathleen Cass and Maia Baillie Smith.
Subscribe to the Forum Newsletter for important news and updates.
France Volontaires and the Global Volunteering Forum have conducted a joint reflection on these topics ahead of IVCO Paris 2026 (October 19-23). This review is part of the ongoing International Volunteer Year (#IVY2026), which aims to highlight the contribution of volunteering to contemporary global challenges. It extends the work undertaken in recent years by the Forum and its partners and calls for a global dialogue on the role of volunteering in future international development frameworks.
If volunteering is to contribute meaningfully to sustainable development beyond 2030, we need to think less about how individual volunteer assignments incorporate global challenges, and more about how volunteering can mobilise people to act on the bigger political, economic and social forces in their own countries that shape those challenges globally. For international volunteer cooperation organisations (IVCOs), we believe this means a decisive shift in emphasis: more action ‘at home’.
Volunteering for development is grounded in values of generosity, service, and solidarity. These values remain essential because volunteering begins with people, relationships, trust, and a willingness to contribute. Yet in today’s development landscape, where social risks are more complex and civic space is under pressure, good intentions are not enough
This latest think piece by Dr. Qiang (Braven) Zhang explores whether volunteering – humanity’s oldest form of unpriced cooperation – can shape AI.
