Welcome to VOSESA. Our mission is to support the growth of knowledge about civic service and volunteering in the SADC region through research, publishing and evidence-based advocacy. >Read More
Employee Volunteer Week took place from 5-11 March 2012 in South Africa. CAF Southern Africa initiated this yearly campaign in 2005 to encourage employee volunteering in communities. The week provides a platform for showcasing the achievements of corporates and their employees who volunteer, as well as profiling the important social contributions of the organisations hosting volunteers. To read more about the Employee Volunteer Week 2012 click below:
On 3 March 2012, a parliamentary briefing meeting was convened, with the support of the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) Programme to discuss the Southern African Conference on Volunteer Action for Development, held in Johannesburg from 17-19 October 2011. A total of 25 parliamentarians were briefed on the declaration adopted at the Southern Africa Conference and important strides were made in fostering greater support and recognition for volunteer action in Malawi. To learn more click below:
The South African National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) convened a Knowledge Network Seminar on Increasing Youth Volunteering in South African Society from 24-25 January 2012 at the Kopanong Hotel and Conference Centre in Benoni, South Africa. The seminar marked the launch of a three-year NYDA initiative, in partnership with the Flemish Government, to cultivate an enabling environment for youth volunteering in South Africa. Click below to find out what one of the youth participants had to say about the seminar:
United Nations Volunteers (UNV) launched the State of the World's Volunteerism Report on 5 December 2011. To access the report, click here.

VOSESA is currently serving on the Steering Committee of the African Conference on Volunteer Action for Peace and Development (ACVAPD). The conference will build on the Southern Africa Conference on Volunteer Action for Development and seeks to promote a culture of volunteerism that enhances the capacity for development for people in East Africa. In particular, the conference aims to generate greater support in the region for regional youth volunteer exchange programmes. The conference will take place from 2-4 July 2012 in Nairobi, Kenya. To learn more about the conference, click below:
VOSESA was invited to attend a conference on the needs and opportunities of the youth service field internationally at the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center from March 5-9, 2012. Innovations in Civic Participation (ICP), acting as the Global Secretariat for the International Association for National Youth Service (IANYS), convened the conference. To learn more about the conference, click below:
On December 5th, International Volunteer Day, VOSESA launched its research report on the experience of International Voluntary Service (IVS) by host organisations, host communities and volunteers. The study, conducted in Mozambique and Tanzania was funded by Trust Africa and supported the Center for Social Development at the Washington University, St. Louis, MO, USA. To read the report or the executive summary, click below:
On April 17th 2012, the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) Programme launched the multi-media Volunteer Action Counts campaign to showcase the importance of people’s participation and volunteering towards the achievement of sustainable development at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, Rio+20 in Brazil. To learn how you can make volunteering count, click below:
Every year on 18 July, the world celebrates Mandela Day. Mandela Day is a worldwide campaign that celebrates the life and service of Nelson Mandela by promoting and stimulating volunteering. It is a call to action for individuals – for people everywhere – to take responsibility for changing the world into a better place, one small step at a time, just as Nelson Mandela did. As a result, everyone is asked to volunteer 67 minutes of their time, whether it’s supporting your chosen charity or serving your local community. To support the campaign and to learn how you can make every day a Mandela Day, click below:

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VOSESA's Five-Country Cross-National Study on Civic Service and Volunteering in SADC

VOSESA's Five-Country Cross-National Study on Civic Service and Volunteering in SADC.
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Service Enquiry

Service Enquiry, an online publication available free-of-charge that documents and analyses the experience of civic service and volunteerism in different parts of the world.
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VOSESA's analysis of the volunteering response to the 2008 Xenophobic Attacks in South AfricaVOSESA's analysis of the volunteering response to the 2008 Xenophobic Attacks in South Africa and its potential for social change.
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