I had the privilege of attending the ‘International Year of Volunteers’ world conference in Amsterdam in January 2001. It was a monumental event – national committees from countries all over the world were there. Amazing guest speakers from the United Nations, Kings from small European countries, and thousands of delegates gathered to ‘prepare to meet the challenges of the new millennium’. There was a feeling of goodwill and connectedness, and an underlying belief that volunteerism could only grow larger and more impactful from that special place.
I was a lot younger then, but it seems the world was, too. We had no idea the extent of challenges that would be present a quarter century later, had no concept that the very culture of volunteering might lose some of its steam, very few hints that grand standards in community organizations like the Legion and the Shriners would begin to change their very shape as many volunteers disappeared like sand through fingers. Young people need to work – or search for work – in every spare moment they have, the sense of obligation towards humankind is running amuck, and hands are being thrown into the air in resignation to the idea that there’s nothing anyone can do to change things anyway.
The focus of the world conference was ‘Volunteers: Capital of the Millennium’, as though organizers knew there was a great economy in the volunteer sector but were unaware that the volunteer economy might not always be there. I found my conference program the other day and poured over it with fascination. Was I wrong in my assessment that the state of volunteering and the impact of volunteer work is dwindling?
The 2001 conference identified 10 themes for advancing the world: volunteer networking; human development and poverty alleviation; gender and women’s rights; health, emergency relief; environment; private sector and corporate volunteering; youth, education and training; peace; older persons; children; and human rights. Tall order. I examined where we have gotten to in just two of these world priorities.
How does the current state of world poverty compare to 25 years ago? "Over the past generation extreme poverty declined hugely. This is one of the most important ways our world has changed over this time. There are more than a billion fewer people living below the International Poverty Line today than in 1990." (excerpt from Poverty – our world in data).
This is a generalization, and certain countries continue to experience extreme poverty, well below the identified poverty line. But it much more positive than I thought it would be!
Has the state of women’s rights improved globally over the past 25 years? "Yes, there has been significant improvement in women's rights globally over the past 25 years, with notable advancements in areas like education, health, and political representation, but significant challenges and inequalities persist… women’s rights are under threat all over the world…. women and girls are disproportionately affected by armed conflicts, pandemics, climate change and economic crises." (excerpt from Focus2030)
Okay, we might have a long way to go, but much work is still being done and the world is making strides forward. Is volunteerism as strong today as it was 25 years ago? "If you add formal and informal volunteering together, 79% of the population 15 years old and over in Canada volunteer… and they collectively contributed approximately 1.7 billion hours." (excerpt Social Transformation – the changing face of volunteerism).
Wow! This little saunter into stats has made my day – things in the volunteer sector seem pretty healthy. Looking back to the conference program, 2001 was called ‘the year that changes the world’. Well, we can insert 2025 and the theme makes perfect sense, in ways we couldn’t have fathomed. But we’ll keep moving forward, with little steps and big strides and a whole bunch of volunteers.
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