Volunteer statistics (ILO)*
Source: ILOSTATS. The data is collected by ILO from national statistical offices. As national statistics on volunteer work are produced using a variety of approaches and tools, direct and cross-country comparisons are not recommended. For more information, visit https://ilostat.ilo.org/topics/volunteer-work/
No data
Measurement work
Data source
- 2007
- 2008
- 2009
- 2010
- 2011
- 2012
- 2013
- 2014
- 2015
- 2016
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2017
- Time Use Survey
- 2018
- 2019
- 2020
- 2021
- 2022
- 2023
- 2024
- 2025
Laws, Policies, Schemes on Volunteering
Does the country have a piece of legislation on volunteering?
The Voluntary Social Service Organisations (Registration and Supervision) Act
Does the country have a national policy, scheme, plan or strategy specific to volunteering?
Yes
| Name of specific policy, strategy or plan on volunteering at the national level. | Year created | Source link | What are the relevant SDG areas/crosscutting themes of the policy, plan scheme or strategy? |
|---|---|---|---|
National Policy on Volunteerism - Sri Lanka |
2019 | View source |
Does the country have a sectoral and cross-sectoral policy, scheme, plan or strategy that mentions volunteering?
Yes
| Name of specific policy, strategy or plan on volunteering at the national level. | Year created | Source link | What are the relevant SDG areas/crosscutting themes of the policy, plan scheme or strategy? |
|---|---|---|---|
| National Youth Policy Sri Lanka | 2014 | View source |  |
| Sri Lanka Peacebuilding Priority Plan | 2016 | View source |  |
VNR Reporting
Voluntary National Review of the Status of Implementing the Sustainable Development Goals
View source
Reporting positive contribution of volunteering to the SDGs
Paragraph 1, page 19
The Sri Lanka VNR process was a collaborative and inclusive process that included multi-stakeholder engagement – government, private sector, academia, development partners and CSOs including Volunteer Involving Organizations (VIOs).
Paragraph 2, page 28
The government has realized that the volunteerism is an important cross-cutting aspect that contributes to all 17 of the SDGs. While separate National Policies may align with each of the separate Goals, a National Policy on Volunteerism would go a long way to support the achieving of all the goals in general, and is thus an essential requirement.
Paragraph 3, page 81
It is equally important to develop linkages between universities and the private sector when designing courses to match skills demand of a globalized labour market. Including internship and volunteering programmes in schools and universities can also help in equipping students with job-relevant skills.
Paragraph 4, page 87
Another instrumental way to enhance soft skills of young people would be encouraging volunteering and creating enabling conditions for volunteers as well as Volunteer Involving Organizations. In 2014, 8.6 million Sri Lankans volunteered at least once a year. That is equivalent to around 40% of the country’s able population, many of whom are in rural areas. 96% of surveyed young volunteers agree that volunteering has helped them develop their skills. On the ideas on ways to encourage more young people to volunteer, 57% agree that schools/universities/employers should allocate time for volunteering.
Paragraph 5, page 102
Another good example of collective efforts to forge peace through a multi-stakeholder approach in Sri Lanka is the Peace Building Priority Plan (PPP) which recognizes the importance of strengthening the role of civil society and volunteerism in Peace Building. In 2016, the Prime Minister’s Office, the Secretariat for the Coordination of Reconciliation Mechanism (SCRM), the Ministry of National Policies and Economic Affairs, and the Ministry of National Co-existence, Dialogue and Official languages have partnered with the UNFPA, UNV, and UN WOMEN with the support of UN Peace Building Fund to empower women and youth to participate and engage in governance and decision-making processes and responses related to sustaining peace and security in Sri Lanka at all levels.
Paragraph 6, page 106
Despite all these efforts, there are gaps in capacity building especially in the area of monitoring and evaluation, including data generation and analysis. There is a need to strengthen Sri Lanka’s capacities related to data generation, collection and effective analysis, all of which could be used for evidence-based policymaking and SDG reporting.176 The concept of volunteerism, especially among youth, is another important aspect for which capacity building can be considered, in light of the need for a collective effort from all citizens towards realizing SDGs.
Paragraph 7, page 108
It has however been noted, based on past experience in working with the MDGs, that the active involvement of the private sector, academia, general public, and volunteers is inadequate, mainly due to lack of familiarity with goals and their specific targets. Encouraging private firms to adopt SDG’s to their CSR framework will allow the corporates to be directly involved; currently Standard Chartered Bank, Insee Cement and Dilmah have integrated SDG’s to their CSR framework.182 Further, general public and volunteers should play greater roles in achieving SDGs considering that volunteerism strengthens civic engagement, safeguards social inclusion, deepens solidarity, and solidifies ownership of development result
No mentionInclusive Transformation Towards a Sustainably Developed Nation for All
View source
Reporting positive contribution of volunteering to the SDGs
Paragraph 1, page 28
Further, inputs from the consultations on “Volunteers as Key Contributors in Accelerating the 2030 Agenda” conducted by the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) were integrated into the VNR. The consultations included the state sector, corporate/private sector, Non-Government Organization
(NGO)/CSO Sector, youth and tertiary education sector and selected agencies from the United Nations. The final inputs were also supported by the National Situation Analysis (NSA) on Volunteerism, and the Online Survey on Volunteerism conducted during the month of March 2022.
Paragraph 2, page 30
Stakeholders from various groups, including government (at different levels), private sector, CSOs, international development partners (multilateral and bilateral), volunteers and volunteer groups, youth, academia etc. were engaged for primary data collection via various thematic, national, and provincial level consultations.
Paragraph 3, page 43
Youth groups are another key stakeholder segment where engagement with the Government has been lacking and therefore the ownership of the SDGs and 2030 Agenda by the youth remain undefined17. Sri Lanka continues to have a strong volunteering background and is considered a key contributor to promote social inclusion. A key development in this area is the approval of the National Policy on Volunteerism (NPV) in August 2019, which was initially developed in 2014 through a collaboration
between the Ministry of Social Empowerment and Primary Industries of Sri Lanka and United Nations Volunteers (UNV). This lays the groundwork for unlocking the potential of volunteerism as a key contributor to achieving the SDG targets and 2030 Agenda.
Paragraph 4, page 120
KFB composed entirely of volunteer youth works to bridge the gap in the supply chain by collecting
surplus foods and providing them to people in need working closely with The Global Food Banking Network.
Paragraph 5, page 122
The National Youth Development Programme, ''Hope for Youth'' by the Ministry of Youth and Sports aims to reduce youth unemployment from the current 28% to 12%. The program is expected to address the challenges encountered by youth by actively engaging them in the development process of the country. In addition, the government has initiated the Community Police Service Program with the aim of obtaining the services of Youth as “Community Assistants (Voluntary)” at the GN division level. Accordingly, the Sri Lanka Police will issue them a volunteer identity card in addition to awarding a service certificate on “Community Leadership'' for the six-month participation in the programme. These initiatives are expected to contribute towards reducing the proportion of youth not in employment, education, or training (SDG Target 8.5).
Paragraph 6, page 146
In addition, volunteerism can play a crucial role in this regard to leverage expertise from the private sector and other stakeholder groups at the same time creating wider awareness for collective citizen participation to achieve the SDG targets.
No mentionUNSDCF Reporting
United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework for Sri Lanka 2023-2027
View source
Volunteering integrated into the narrative text of the UNSDCF
Volunteering integrated into the UNSDCF Results and Reporting Framework
Volunteering integrated in relation to gender equality and/or women’s empowerment
Paragraph 1, page 43
The UN system’s contribution to the Outcome will therefore involve partnerships with a wide range of stakeholders including: line Ministries, directorates and other government agencies at national and sub-national levels; development partners; professional associations and colleges; financial institutions; training institutes and academia; civil society and community-based organisations including women and youth led organisations; volunteer involving organisations; community and religious leaders; the media; public sector service providers; private sector service providers and producers; along with individuals, families and communities themselves.
Paragraph 2, page 46
This will include support for identifying and addressing skills gaps, mutual recognition and harmonisation of skills frameworks, sustainable investments in skills programmes and the formalization of volunteerism experience during education given its positive impact on labour market. Complementing the promotion of transferable skills within the general education curricula under Outcome 1, the UN will provide technical support to strengthen systems and mechanisms that provide young people with access to more relevant learning and opportunities – including volunteerism and work-based learning - for apprenticeships, entrepreneurship, leadership, digital skills, and other emerging skills for the current and future labour market.
Paragraph 3, page 50
Communication initiatives, technology transfer and localized solutions will be promoted, including through community organisations, youth and women’s groups, volunteer involving organizations and local volunteers to increase public awareness of and engagement in actions for the protection, responsible use and sustainable management of natural resources, sustainable consumption practices, pollution reduction, renewable energy and environmental protection. The UN system’s contribution to the Outcome will therefore involve partnerships including government at national and local levels, international and national NGOs, civil society organizations (CSO’s), academia and research institutions, the private sector, women and youth-led organisations, volunteer-involving organisations and volunteer groups, utility service providers, along with other bilateral and multilateral agencies and donors.
Paragraph 4, page 51
The UN system’s contribution to the Outcome will therefore involve partnerships including government at national and local levels, international and national NGOs, civil society organizations (CSO’s), academia and research institutions, the private sector, women and youth-led organizations, volunteer-involving organizations and volunteer groups, and utility service providers, along with other bilateral and multilateral agencies and donors.
Paragraph 5, page 57
Capacity building, advisory services and resources for civil society and organized national level volunteer organisations – particularly youth and women’s organisations and their leaders - will be provided to increase their ability to lead, influence, implement and expand the reach of effective community engagement to promote social cohesion, inclusive development and collective action. These will be supported by actions under Outcome 4 which strengthen peoples’ participation and recognition for their volunteer contributions in local level policy development and decision-making processes, ensuring proper representation of most marginalised and vulnerable groups, including young girls and women, differently abled individuals, LGBTQ+ communities, indigenous groups and others.
Paragraph 6, page 58
In contributing to the Outcome, the UN will collaborate with a wide range of government ministries and authorities at national and sub-national levels, political organisations, the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, community-based organisations, volunteer-involving organisations and volunteer groups, civil society, traditional and faith leaders and other social change agents, the private sector, and the media, amongst others.
Paragraph 7, page 61
Strengthening of civil society, volunteer groups, women’s organizations, media and multi-stakeholder forums at national and subnational levels to promote collective leadership and consultatively developed community-led actions towards gender equality and women’s empowerment in all sectors will be supported.
Paragraph 1, page 80
Under Outcome 1 Government and other key partners: Government and other key partners: Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education and its State Ministries, State Ministry of Women and Child Development, Pre-School and Primary Education, School Infrastructure and School Services, State Ministry of Education Reforms, ...; training institutes and academia, civil society and community-based organisations including women and youth led organisations, volunteer involving organisations, community and religious leaders, the media; private sector service providers and producers, individuals, families and communities.
Paragraph 2, page 82
Under Outcome 2 in Government and other key partners: Ministry of Environment and Central Environment Authority, Ministry of Defence – State Ministry of Disaster Management, Disaster Management Centre, National Disaster Relief Services Centre, Department of Meteorology, Ministry of Irrigation – Department of Irrigation, Ministry of Agriculture, Department of Agriculture, State Ministry of Livestock, Farm Promotion and Dairy and Egg Related Industries, State Ministry of Samurdhi, Household Economy, Micro Finance, Self Employment, Business Development, Ministry of Fisheries, Department of Fisheries and National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency, Ministry of Power- Sustainable Energy Authority, Ministry of Wildlife and Forest Conservation, Ministry of Water Supply- Department of National Community Water Supply, National Water Supply and Drainage Board, Ministry of Health, Family Health Bureau; Ministry of Women & Child Affairs, Ministry of Industries, Ministry of Economic Policy & Plan Implementation- Department of Census & Statistics, State Minister of Coast Conservation & Low-Lying Lands Development – Coast Conservation Department, Marine Environment Protection Authority, Ministry of Lands and Land Development and Land Use Policy and Planning Department, State Ministry of Urban Development, Waste Disposal and Community Cleanliness, Provincial Councils and respective Ministries and Departments, Human Rights Commission, international and national NGOs, CSO’s, academia and research institutions, the private sector, women and youth-led organisations, volunteer-involving organisations and volunteer groups, utility service providers.
Paragraph 3, page 84
Under Outcome 3 in Government and other key partners: Ministry of Industries and Commerce, ... community-based organisations, volunteer-involving organisations and volunteer groups, civil society, traditional and faith leaders and other social change agents, the private sector, and the media.
Paragraph 4, page 88
Under Outcome 5 in Government and other key partners: Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, ... volunteer organizations and groups.