Remarks by the President of the General Assembly 

H.E. Ms. Annalena Baerbock

at the Opening Event
of the International Year of Volunteers for Sustainable Development

5 December 2025

[As delivered]

 

Good morning, everybody and thank you for the invitation on this very special day.

 

Even though the theme is ‘every contribution matters’, I would say that without the contributions of volunteers around the world, this institution, the United Nations would not matter at all. Because it’s your daily work which really reflects the principles in the best way we can.

 

In Djibouti, UN Volunteer Diana Ranja works as an Education Specialist, advancing access to quality education in rural communities.

 

In the Middle East region, Daniah Al-Najafi serves as a UN Volunteer Youth Engagement Officer, helping girls gain digital skills and take more proactive roles in their communities.

 

And in Afghanistan, UN Volunteer Adnan Safi provided relief and recovery support when a 6.0-magnitude earthquake devastated the region last August.

 

All that without probably being noticed in this Hall or being noticed somewhere else. But all this is the daily life of UN Volunteers and the daily delivery of the UN principles.

 

Excellencies,

Ladies and gentlemen,

 

Across the UN system, United Nations Volunteers are the quiet, unspoken engine of local action.

 

They work hand-in-hand with the entire UN System, as well as with your Governments, to advance climate action, gender and youth empowerment, and access to essential social services.

 

Twenty-five years after the first International Year of Volunteers, we have an opportunity today to not only recognize and celebrate the role of UN Volunteers in driving sustainable development, but to learn from them.

 

To learn from their daily work, which is most of the time not covered in headlines.

 

Allow me, in this regard, to commend the Permanent Missions of Germany and Kazakhstan for spearheading this effort to spotlight the relationship between development and volunteerism.

 

As we accelerate efforts to deliver on the 2030 Agenda, the capacities and strengths of volunteers are indispensable.

 

As the theme of this International Year of Volunteers rightly states: every contribution matters. Matters more than we most times realize.

 

And nowhere is this clearer than in the work of the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme.

 

With a staff of just 150, UNV manages nearly 15,000 volunteers globally.

 

They serve in more than 169 countries — supporting gender equality, climate resilience, economic development, and youth engagement.

 

Parents see their impact when children receive vaccinations with the support of UN Volunteers.

 

Young people benefit when UN Volunteers help run local schools and youth groups.

 

Refugees and migrants feel their support in community centres, guided by UN Volunteers.

 

The list is endless, and their activities are as diverse as the volunteers themselves.

 

But while their work is broad and varied, the values that define them are the same: generosity, solidarity, and service.

 

Each act of volunteering is a person giving their time to uplift another.

A community strengthened by the kindness of a few.

 

To the UN Volunteers here today — or watching online all around the world — we thank you.

 

We appreciate your work. But most of all, as I said in the beginning, in these shaky times, the UN System would be worse off without you.

 

 

Recognizing the essential role of volunteerism in sustainable development, I encourage all Member States to integrate volunteerism into national development strategies and SDG implementation plans.

 

Volunteers must be visible — not only today – in your policy frameworks, budgets, programming and action plans.

 

I also encourage Member States to recognize the — frankly speaking — cost-effective nature of volunteerism in their review of agencies and mandates, especially in the broader rollout of the UN80 Initiative.

 

UN Volunteers are a resource that must be strengthened and enabled, not stymied or reduced through bureaucratic change.

 

And to fully value volunteerism, we need better data.

 

I urge UN agencies and government partners benefiting from the support of UN Volunteers to record and report these contributions more fully, so that policy can be more effective, inclusive and evidence based, more pragmatic and less bureaucratic.

 

As we continue the rollout of the UN80 Initiative, let us also learn from UNV’s ability to position volunteers so quickly and efficiently across regions and countries. This agility can be extremely useful and is something that we should aspire to during the UN80 process.

 

I was in Bonn during the summer and learned that some of the things and reform we are aiming for here in New York are already being implemented in the volunteer agency, so we really can learn from you and need your guidance.

 

As we commemorate this international day – and launch the International Year of Volunteers for Sustainable Development – let us remember what UN Volunteer service truly looks like:

 

It looks like clearing rubble after an earthquake in Afghanistan.

It looks like children receiving vaccines.

It looks like young people learning how to thrive in the digital sphere.

It looks like the principles and the heart and soul of our United Nations.

I thank you.

 

Opening Event of the International Year of Volunteers for Sustainable Development (IVY) 2026

Aligned with the 2025 International Volunteer Day theme, “Every contribution matters”, the event served as a platform for Member States to pledge concrete actions to operationalize resolution 78/127 – such as integrating volunteerism into national development strategies and establishing national committees to lead their International Volunteer Year campaigns at the country level.

GA  resolution A/RES/78/127 by the United Nations General Assembly designated the year 2026 as the International Year of Volunteers for Sustainable Development (IVY 2026).

International Volunteer Year

Resolution 78/127

Concept note

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