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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.
International Voluntary Service (IVS) has undergone a notable evolution since the post-World War II era, particularly influenced by modernisation theory. This theory proposed a development model categorising nations as ‘poor’, requiring support from the Global North. Such structured aid aimed to eradicate poverty while establishing a development discourse in the Global South through skill transfer, financial assistance, and technology. However, this approach has contributed to the process of ‘othering’, as described by Edward Said.
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
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This latest think piece by Dr. Qiang (Braven) Zhang explores whether volunteering – humanity’s oldest form of unpriced cooperation – can shape AI.
We begin this think piece with a personal reflection from Willoughby Niki on how the onset of COVID-19 abruptly rewrote and ultimately expanded his volunteering engagement as a way of life. He goes on to explore how technology can deepen human connections in international development.
As we work towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and better lives for communities around the world, trust is central to our ability to cooperate with stakeholders and further these goals. Yet trust is also becoming a challenge, as cooperation unfolds against a backdrop of geopolitical fragmentation, and seemingly transactional relationships.
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.
