Panel Discussion: How Can Volunteerism Help Accelerate the Implementation of the New Urban Agenda?

More than one billion people volunteer their time globally – every single year. The added value of volunteers is unquestionable. We saw how volunteers were quickly deployed after the earthquakes in Nepal and Ecuador, not only supporting health care, education, the homeless and institution building, but also building back better. The New Urban Agenda, like the Sustainable Development Goals, offers new opportunities to identify more ways in which volunteers can continue adding value to their communities, and those of others – every day, every week, every month, every year – all one billion of them. This interactive event includes a panel discussion on the importance of the role of volunteerism in the implementation of the New Urban Agenda, particularly on how volunteerism is a catalyser in strengthening institutional capacities and serves as a link between municipalities and cities and their citizens. Secondly, a new joint project by UN-Habitat and UNV to “Localize the New Urban Agenda while promoting local capacity through volunteerism in Intermediate Cities in Latin America” will be presented. It targets 50 municipalities in Brazil, Colombia and Mexico and shows how volunteerism contributes to local governance and the implementation of the New Urban Agenda with an inclusive, sustainable and participatory focus.