There has probably never been a better year to promote volunteerism around the world than the current one. Indeed, it was a remarkable year from many points of view for strengthening volunteerism, or service as it is often referred to in some countries. With the publication of the latest World’s Volunteerism Report 2015, a resolution of the UN General Assembly, a Global Action Plan and a series of research papers proving the effectiveness of volunteerism in peace and development, volunteerism has received a lot of attention in policymaking

throughout 2015.

Interestingly, the year was also important for the development sector for a number of reasons, primarily the endorsement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that sets new global benchmarks to fight poverty and inequality. What really counts is that now everybody realises that volunteerism plays a big role in the overall efforts to make the SDGs a reality.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said, “Volunteerism can help to expand and mobilise constituencies and to engage people in national planning and implementation for sustainable development goals.” The UN resolution entitled ‘Integrating volunteering into peace and development: The plan of action for the next decade and beyond’ not only strongly encourages member states to mainstream volunteerism in their national anti-poverty plans but also encourages greater support for research on volunteerism to add value to grassroots actions taken by local communities.

Nepal, one of the countries with the highest level of social capital in the world, can offer excellent examples of how volunteerism can create social cohesion, bring down inequalities and contribute to the wellbeing of local communities. It was no coincidence that Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) and the Institute of Development Studies, probably the most prominent research centre on development in the world, chose Nepal and a few other countries as the research venue for the empiric research project Valuing Volunteering. The final outcome of this groundbreaking research is a publication entitled ‘Volunteerism in Sustainable Development 2015’ that underlines that it is not “just what volunteers do but how they support change that makes their contribution unique”, especially when they succeed in ‘extending’ and complementing existing public services.

Here we have a caveat. Oftentimes, volunteers who can help their organisations reach out are the hardest to reach. They can be ‘confused’ because they are not that different from other paid workers even though they receive compensation below the market rate. In a country like Nepal, it is important to recognise the contributions of informal and unstructured forms of volunteerism instead of just highlighting what has been done by persons who, in certain cases, are not comfortable calling themselves ‘volunteers’ because they feel that the term implies unfair work treatment.

Volunteering in Nepal

Considering the impact of volunteers in the aftermath of the earthquake, the government of Nepal should integrate the role of the ‘citizen volunteer’ in its draft national policy. Imagine a Natural Disaster Corps consisting of trained and well-equipped volunteers. In Italy, for example, the so-called Civil Protection consisting of volunteers makes an invaluable contribution during times of natural emergencies. While it is important to understand the work done by organisations promoting volunteerism all over the country, including international organisations, we should not forget that change at the local level often happens silently and away from the limelight.

We also urgently need to come up with a new policy framework regulating the role of ‘temporary’ international volunteers who are technically illegal. It is absurd to deny a phenomenon that is impossible to stop. Instead, we need to work in partnership to find innovative ways to benefit from the contributions of international volunteers while making sure that they are not allowed to serve in local orphanages. As controversial as this position might look, research findings show how international volunteers engaged in the child protection sector are often exploited, and end up being part of the problem rather than contributing towards a solution. A national

conversation must be held in this regard.

Volunteerism is for all. It can offer a platform for empowerment to showcase that everybody, including persons with disabilities, can serve and play an active role at the community level. To harness volunteerism in Nepal, we need to invest in its ‘infrastructure’. The National Development Volunteering Service should be upgraded from a service-oriented programme of the National Planning Commission to a full agency. Sri Lanka has shown how to invest in the sector as it boasts a National Volunteering Secretariat under its Ministry of Social Services and Welfare that coordinates the entire sector.

This was possible thanks to the technical and financial support of United Nations Volunteers whose office in Nepal is very well positioned to work at the policy level. Last but not least, we should refrain from the temptation to consider volunteering as being something just for youths. Its inclusiveness and openness is what makes the sector so unique and transformative.

Galimberti is co-founder of ENGAGE and editor of Sharing4good