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2017 IVSEC

Date:2018-04-13     Visitors:4503

INTERNATIONAL VOLUNTEER SERVICE EXCHANGE CONFERENCE

Beijing, People’s Republic of China

12 – 14 December 2017

The International Volunteer Service Exchange Conference (IVSEC) organized by the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme, China International Center for Economic and Technical Exchanges (CICETE), and Beijing Volunteer Service Federation (BVF)focuses on volunteering as a driving force to support the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and South-South Cooperation along the “Belt and Road Initiative” (BRI) and beyond.

Background

  Both traditional and emerging partners have increased calls for the UN system to accelerate South-South Cooperation for peace and development. The new 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda recognizes the increasing voice, capacity, willingness, and valuable perspectives of Global South partners to support each other in development efforts.

  In October 2015, UNV co-hosted the first International Volunteer Service Exchange Conference (IVSEC) with BVF, where representatives from 18 countries – including many Middle-Income Countries (MICs) - called on UNV to further support South–South Cooperation. IVSEC participants acknowledged the strong potential for international volunteerism to facilitate knowledge exchange, build capacity, and strengthen people-to-people links. They noted how South-South Cooperation through volunteering can play a significant role in assisting countries to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

  Following the successful co-hosting of the IVSEC event, discussions began on a new phase of collaboration between BVF and UNV. This resulted in the September 2016 signing of a new three-year project “Strengthening China’s Involvement in the Development of International Volunteer Service through South-South Cooperation and the Belt and Road Initiative.” This three-year project aims to strengthen to develop the capacities of volunteer involving organizations (VIOs) to work internationally, and facilitate cross-country knowledge-sharing and co-creation with support for joint research.

  In China and many countries there is already a strong volunteering infrastructure and many VIOs with many unique and complimentary experiences that can be shared with each other to mutually develop capacity. At the same time, they can also work together to co-create new solutions to fully harness the potential for volunteerism to tackle development challenges. There is now substantial opportunity to discuss how people-to-people exchange and volunteerism can provide a bottom-up, people-centered approach to sustainable development across the region through the delivery of basic services, the transfer of skills, the exchange of best practices, and the bridging of cultural differences to facilitate a coordinated and mutually beneficial response.

  IVSEC builds on the above foundation and opens up new discussions on volunteering as a driving force to support the Sustainable Development Goals and South-South Cooperation along the “Belt and Road Initiative” and beyond. The co-hosting organizations will bring together leading partners, volunteer-involving organizations, academics, private sectors and UN entities for peer learning, sharing best practices in an increasingly globalised environment. The conference spotlights urban development, community service and academic research in the context of volunteer service, as well as identifies challenges and opportunities for volunteerism through innovative partnerships. It is an opportunity to strengthen and explore new South-South alliances and partnerships. The three-day programme consists of plenary sessions, parallel sessions, summing-up meetings, and fieldtrip on topics covering best practices and lessons learned in developing and implementing national and international volunteering programmes from around the world.

IVSEC Objectives

  Build strong Southern constituency and voice on volunteering providing alternative solutions based upon the principles of national ownership and country capacities.

  Provide opportunities for peer learning, sharing good practices and partnership building, and contributing to the generation of new volunteeringalliances for achieving the SDGs along BRI and beyond.

  Identify new opportunities for innovative partnerships to jointly overcome development challenges through volunteering.

For more details, please download the conference agenda below:

 2017 IVSEC Agenda

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