Volunteerism forms part of the fabric of all societies. It can be a critical resource for peace and development, yet more evidence is needed to understand the distinctive value of volunteer contributions to the economy and society, particularly in fragile contexts.

Analysis by the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme shows that the efforts of the more than 1 billion volunteers around the world are equal to that of 109 million full-time workers.

To put this in context, the volunteer workforce is nearly three times the number of those employed globally in financial services, and more than five times of those working in mining and extractive industries.

Volunteerism is universal and people of all ages and backgrounds volunteer. Access to different types of volunteering opportunities is likely to differ, however, by nationality, income, gender and social status. The vast majority of volunteer work, 70%, does not involve any organization but happens informally between people in their communities. Globally, women take on the majority of volunteer work, 57%, and an even bigger share of informal volunteering, 59%, often as an extension of unpaid care roles.

Social, environmental and technological changes are all influencing volunteering in 2018. More than 90 countries around the world now have policies or legislation on volunteering. Younger generations are developing and engaging in new forms of issue-based volunteering, often using digital technologies to connect. This looks quite different from the regular, local volunteer work that their parents did in their communities.

Though more efforts are needed to increase data and evidence on volunteering by governments and others, these numbers, trends and patterns are a starting point for better understanding the impact of volunteering on global peace and development issues in 2018.

Community members feel that volunteer work has two distinctive values that helps them to be more resilient:

Firstly, all types of communities value volunteering because it gives people the ability to self-organize around their own priorities. By coming together to volunteer, individuals can create collective strategies for dealing with risk. This is important in times of crisis for the speed of response, flexibility, ownership and agency of efforts, particularly in the most isolated communities where other types of support are limited. In other contexts, self-organization is more important for marginalized groups.

Secondly, by its nature, volunteerism is formed around human connections. Research participants highlighted that the solidarity, empathy and connections generated through social action are a protective factor when times are hard. Human connections and networks enable communities to share information on risks, to reach out to their most vulnerable members, and to act based on empathy and shared values.

The vast majority of volunteers are working day in, day out in their own communities. But because volunteerism is part and parcel of communities under strain, it means that it also cannot be romanticized. In some contexts, volunteering might have a less positive impact on resilience.

For example, local volunteer efforts can be effective at responding to shocks and stresses, but with insufficient resources they may not help communities prevent crises and to adapt. New and emerging risks such as increasing climate variability are also putting traditional volunteering strategies under strain.

Furthermore, because volunteering is rooted in social relationships, volunteering can also be exclusive, exploitative and burden the most vulnerable. Power dynamics within and across communities mean that women, and marginalized groups are often taking on the majority of lower-status volunteering. At the same time, volunteer roles that increase skills and leadership opportunities are not available to all.

These findings challenge the assumption that focusing on the local will automatically enhance participation and empower volunteer groups in a transformative way. To help communities bounce back, it is important to create an environment that recognizes and maximizes the most positive characteristics of volunteerism, and addresses its challenges.

When local capacities are pushed to their limits or when shocks and stresses originate from outside their communities, collaboration between external actors and local volunteerism becomes important.

Directly or indirectly, many governments and their development partners are already influencing local volunteerism. Policies, programmes, norms and standards all impact on the ability of volunteering to strengthen resilience.

Done well, collaborations can be highly complementary, enabling local volunteers to move from merely coping, to preventing shocks and helping communities to adapt. Partnerships can also help embed more inclusive and equitable norms and standards that allow all types of people to benefit from volunteer opportunities.

Conversely, when actors engage with local volunteerism as simply a cheap and readily available resource, local volunteerism may be undermined. Volunteers may become over-burdened, exploited, and have little opportunity to nurture their distinctive contributions such as local knowledge, human-centred connections, agency, autonomy and flexibility. Volunteerism itself may become less resilient.

Partnerships between local volunteers and external actors should be structured in a spirit of true collaboration that builds on the strengths of volunteerism for resilience. Giving sufficient space to local volunteers to come together to innovate and solve problems, while linking and supporting their efforts to those of complementary actors, is key.

Like other forms of civic participation, volunteerism is both a means and an end of development. This duality means that while voluntary action can be a renewable resource and a positive force for inclusive and equitable development, it can also squander the resources of the most vulnerable people or be exploited by external actors.

Policies and practice need to focus on ensuring both mutually reinforcing ‘volunteerism for resilience’ and ‘resilient volunteering’. This can be achieved in several ways:

Firstly, by recognizing that volunteerism is a fundamental resource for resilience in all communities. This means that there is a need to move from ad-hoc and ‘project by project’ approaches that work with volunteers, to a national infrastructure for volunteerism that enables all citizens to contribute and to partner with others.

Secondly, by ensuring a fairer distribution of resources between actors. Where volunteers are bearing the brunt of the risks, technical and financial support should be more readily available at the local level to sustain volunteer efforts and to avoid depleting the volunteers’ limited resources.

Thirdly, by better integrating volunteerism into national resilience strategies and plans, in ways that give volunteers a voice in decision-making based on their own knowledge and contributions, rather than being expected to implement others’ priorities in a top-down way.

Finally, by working to shape a more equitable distribution of volunteer labour within and across communities, including opening up development and leadership opportunities for disadvantaged and marginalized groups.

Without such efforts, local volunteerism is unlikely to be sustainable, especially where the burden of community coping is disproportionately borne by the most vulnerable. This report provides an alternative vision for governments and their development partners – one where volunteerism continues to be a core property and protective factor for resilient communities everywhere.