Volunteer Family Report, phase 1

Volunteering is one of the clearest expressions of solidarity in action. It is a global fact of life, a mass social phenomenon involving hundreds of millions of people around the world who offer their time, skills and knowledge for the well being of their neighbors, community or society at large. Ten million people volunteered in 2000 to vaccinate 550 million children as part of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. The total value of this support was estimated at ten billion US dollars. A study from ATD Fourth World reports that in countries where empirical studies exist, the contribution of volunteering is estimated to be between 8 and 14% of the GDP. More...