ASTANA – Initiated by Kazakhstan, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has adopted a resolution proclaiming 2026 the International Year of Volunteers for Sustainable Development, reported the Kazakh Foreign Ministry’s press service on Dec. 19.
Photo credit: brookings.edu.
Kazakhstan introduced this resolution on behalf of the core group members – Armenia, Bolivia, Germany, Kenya, and Kiribati. 54 UN member states joined the document.
Uniting stakeholders in a year-long effort to integrate volunteering into the development agenda, it will give a strong impetus at the national, regional, and global levels, will further strengthen international cooperation on volunteerism and will shape key directions for its future development.
President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev attaches special importance to the development of volunteerism in our country, considering it one of the most important components of building a Just Kazakhstan.
According to the President, volunteers – true patriots of their country – put moral values above all else and play an exceptional role in strengthening a reliable partnership between the state and society.
At the initiative of the Head of State, 2020 was declared the Year of the Volunteer in Kazakhstan, and a Road Map for the Development of Volunteering in Kazakhstan for 2021-2023 was adopted. As a result of the measures taken, the number of volunteers in the country has reached 200 thousand people. Kazakhstani youth serve as UN volunteers in several countries of the world.
On July 20-21, 2023, the International Volunteer Forum was held in Astana, with the participation of the President of Kazakhstan, senior UN representatives and volunteers from more than 30 countries, which reaffirmed the important role of our country in the global volunteer movement.
