UN Volunteers – South-South volunteering as a driving force for development: Experiences from Asia and the Pacific

The United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) has partnered up with the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific and the Thailand International Cooperation Agency (TICA) to produce this South-South in Action report on South-South Volunteering as a Driving Force for Development: Experiences from Asia and the Pacific. Using a case study analysis approach, the report examines volunteer programmes that have strong South-South components in Cambodia, China and Thailand. Normative discussions of volunteerism and South-South cooperation note that they share common principles of “mutuality, reciprocity, respect and equality” and that they have the potential to promote participatory and needs-based approaches to development, while cultivating global citizens and strengthening people to people ties. The hypothesis is that South-South cooperation and volunteerism are mutually reinforcing and highly compatible concepts.