Cover image
Technical paper

Report on Volunteering Infrastructure and Trends

Australian Volunteers Program
Africa
Asia and the Pacific
Volunteerism
Download

Fast read

This report, based on a desktop review, presents the context of volunteering in 25 countries across Asia-Pacific and Africa, the infrastructure that supports volunteering in these countries, as well as volunteering trends (the who, where and how of volunteering).

Summary

  • The review is based on an agreed set of variables: (i) Human Development Index (HDI) Ranking; (ii) Volunteering laws and policies; (iii) Volunteering schemes, at national and international levels; (iv) Government and peak volunteering bodies; (v) Volunteering trends from trusted sources, including volunteer age, profession, gender, sectors for volunteering, and formal and informal volunteering.
  • The review found that the state of the data was variable, with available data on volunteering infrastructure in almost every country but inconsistent and incomparable data on volunteering trends.
  • It further found that there were no definitive links between volunteering infrastructure, Human Development Index (HDI) ranking, or region, with no patterns observed between the prevalence of volunteering laws and policies, volunteering bodies, or volunteering schemes.