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Think Pieces

Check out eight insightful pieces as part of the IVCO 2024 Think Piece Series using the links below (in English, Spanish and French).

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Sandra Koch - Picture IVCO

Interview with Sandra Koch, UN Volunteers

Volunteering for a Sustainable Future: A United Nations Volunteers Perspective Continuing our series of interviews with influential Forum leaders and IVCO delegates, this week we met with Sandra Koch, Team Leader, Secretariat for the International Year of Volunteers for Sustainable Development (IVY) at the United Nations Volunteers (UNV). UNV collaborates with the United Nations system, Member States, civil society and others to drive peace, development, and humanitarian efforts through volunteerism. In a historic resolution, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 2026 the International Year of Volunteers for Sustainable Development – in short: International Volunteer Year (IVY) 2026. This significant milestone provides the opportunity to celebrate volunteers and their contributions on a global stage. Register today Tell us a little about IVY 2026 and your role as its Team Leader at UNV? IVY 2026 is a United Nations General Assembly initiative to spotlight the vital role of volunteerism in achieving the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals. As Team Leader of the IVY 2026 Secretariat at UNV, I coordinate our outreach, advocacy and communications efforts around the International Year. The Secretariat’s role – as mandated by the General Assembly – is to support Member States, United Nations entities civil society,

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Christina Schulte VIA e.V.

Interview with Christina Schulte

Continuing our new series of interviews with influential Forum leaders and IVCO delegates. This week we met with Christina Schulte, CEO of VIA e.V., the Association for International and Intercultural Exchange in Germany.

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Relational Peacebuilding as an instrument for volunteers to strengthen civil society

We are halfway to 2030 and the end date for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). There cannot be successful development without peace and civil engagement, and therefore there is a need to unite sustainable development in strengthening civil society and sustainable peacebuilding. This latest think piece shares perspectives from Mr Juergen Deile, Ms. Lina Leav and Ms. Phyu Sin Oo, staff and volunteers at the Cooperation Committee for Cambodia (CCC)

International Volunteering and the Localisation Agenda 

This think piece, brought to us by Liyun Wendy Choo, Tina Mackie and Saane Tupou from Te Tūao Tāwāhi Volunteer Service Abroad in Aotearoa New Zealand, explores localisation in the context of volunteering for development (VfD) and argues that highly skilled international volunteers contribute best to global solidarity when they are co-actors and supporters of local agenda, rather than implementers. VSA’s mission is to connect skilled New Zealand volunteers to share their experience and knowledge directly with local people and communities to create lasting, positive change across the Pacific and beyond.

Managing Compassion: Designing the 65+ volunteer registry in children’s hospitals through the lens of psychological contract and emotional labour theories 

This latest think piece by Dr Isidora D. Mytilinaiou, Ph.D. explores how psychological contract theory and emotional labour theory are shaping the design of a new 65+ Volunteer Registry for public children’s hospitals in Greece. Drawing on comparative fieldwork in Greece and the UK, it examines how older adult volunteers can navigate unspoken expectations and emotional demands in children’s hospital settings—contexts where compassion is both essential and complex to manage.

Jeunes et femmes volontaires : piliers de la résilience communautaire en Afrique sub-saharienne 

Dans de nombreuses communautés africaines, les crises économiques, sociales et environnementales rendent la vie quotidienne de plus en plus précaire. Pourtant, dans ces contextes fragiles, une force silencieuse, souvent sous-estimée, s’active au cœur des dynamiques locales : celle du volontariat porté par les jeunes et les femmes.

Au Cameroun, cette énergie se manifeste de manière éclatante. Loin d’être de simples bénévoles, ces acteurs volontaires s’imposent comme des piliers de la résilience communautaire, en répondant de manière innovante et engagée aux défis locaux. Qu’il s’agisse de santé, d’environnement, de justice sociale ou de participation citoyenne, leurs actions contribuent à la transformation des territoires.