Volunteering and community engagement empower people to change the world from the grassroots up, especially when enabled by strong partnerships at every level. It is 10 years since the International Year of Volunteers in 2001, and through General Assembly Resolution 63/153 (2008), the United Nations called for this anniversary to be marked across the planet.

The aims of the wide range of partners and stakeholders are to promote the values of volunteering, to recognize the positive impacts of volunteering, to build and reinforce volunteering networks, and to facilitate people’s contributions to peace and the Millennium Development Goals through volunteering.

The objectives of EYV2011 – raising awareness, celebrating volunteer efforts and empowering an enabling environment for volunteering – are closely in line with the original mandate of the International Year of Volunteers. The simultaneous marking of the tenth anniversary of the International Year of Volunteers and the European Year of Volunteering undoubtedly sets the stage for a number of common actions for the benefit of the volunteer community.

The two focal point entities, the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme and the European Union, have been working in cooperation for some time. But ownership of both years belongs with volunteering organizations and civil society themselves.

Many volunteering organizations in Europe are marking the Year under both umbrellas – EYV2011 and the International Year of Volunteers +10 – and this dual focus can only serve to reinforce the links between volunteering at the local level and its significance at the national, European and international levels.

The dual Year is thus an opportunity to engage both the EU and the UN policy debate on volunteering, and to foster stronger partnerships between European volunteering organizations and their counterparts from across the globe.

For more information on the International Year of Volunteers+10: www.worldvolunteerweb.org/iyv-10.html