Thomson Reuters Foundation: OPINION: Volunteerism — an antidote to a world in flux
Olivier Adam, executive coordinator of the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) program, and Achim Steiner, administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

“…Every day, an estimated one billion volunteers make a difference to the people and communities where they live and work. … Right now, nearly 8,000 U.N. Volunteers, from 18 to 81 years old, serve with over 40 U.N. partners through the U.N. Volunteers (UNV) program. … Volunteering also creates relationships and improves critical connections between people. … During the 2014-16 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, local, national, and international volunteers worked together to tend to victims and halt the spread of the disease, despite considerable challenges. Volunteers also strengthen community resilience by integrating refugees and displaced persons, building ownership in the peace and development process, and strengthening social cohesion within, and across, groups. … On International Volunteer Day, we recognize the extraordinary contribution of volunteers to this end. In every part of the globe, they are at the forefront of every major shock and stress, responding to problems big and small that benefit all people…” (12/5).