Volunteering and Social Development : A Background Paper for Discussion at an Expert Group Meeting New York by Justin Davis - October 1999

Introduction

1. At the Copenhagen World Summit on Social Development in 1995 some 117 countries pledged to implement ten commitments to alleviate poverty, promote full-employment and secure social integration. The General Assembly Special Session to be held in Geneva from 26 to 30 June 2000 will evaluate progress in the implementation of the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action and recommend further action to help achieve these goals.

2. Although volunteering was not specifically mentioned in Copenhagen reference was made to the important the role played by voluntary and community organizations in social and economic advance. At the first Preparatory Committee of the General Assembly Special Session held in May 1999 the Government of Japan proposed that the importance of volunteering for social development be addressed in Geneva. United Nations Volunteers (UNV) was called upon to report on this matter and to make proposals on how governments could best support volunteering.

3. To help with this task, UNV commissioned the Institute for Volunteering Research, a specialist research and consultancy agency in the UK, to prepare a background paper and facilitate an expert group meeting in New York with a view to producing a final paper for submission to the United Nations Secretariat for the Geneva Special Session in January 2000.

4. This paper is divided into the following sections. Section 1 sets out the parameters for the discussion by looking at the meaning and definition of volunteering. Section 2 examines the different ways in which volunteering manifests itself in different regional and national contexts - from self-help and participation to more formal forms of service provision. Section 3 examines the benefits of volunteering, both for the volunteer and for society at large, drawing in particular on the concept of social capital. The fourth section focuses on some current issues in volunteering, including the role of the state and the business sector in promoting its development and the impact of globalization; while the fifth and final section assesses what action governments can take to encourage volunteering.

5. As requested by the Preparatory Committee the report focuses on the role of volunteering in promoting social integration. However, in line with the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action which recognized the inter-relationship between the three priority areas, the paper also addresses the impact of volunteering on poverty alleviation and full employment.

6. The paper has been written by the Director of the Institute for Volunteering Research, Dr Justin Davis Smith. It is based on a thorough review of the literature and discussions with experts at the United Nations, the World Bank, and various voluntary and community organizations in different parts of the world. The author is grateful for the many helpful ideas, references and contacts freely given, although responsibility for the paper rests with him alone.

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