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Did you know that each year IVCO publishes Think Pieces from its members and delegates that discuss the very latest in global volunteering practice and, that they are free for you to access?

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.

Follow our new series of interviews with influential Forum leaders and IVCO delegates. This week we met with Sónia Fernandes, Presidente Executiva of Pista Mágica in Portugal.

We are excited to launch the programme for IVCO 2025 and to open our call for speakers and think-piece authors.
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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.

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)
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.
The Global Volunteering Forum is a global network of organisations working through volunteers to achieve sustainable development
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