Media Home
UN Web TV
UN Audiovisual Library
UN PhotoUN / VOLUNTEERS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
STORY: UN / VOLUNTEERS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
TRT: 04:30
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 05 DECEMBER 2025, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, UN Headquarters
05 DECEMBER 2025, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, Trusteeship Committee Chamber
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Annalena Baerbock, President, General Assembly, United Nations:
“As we accelerate efforts to deliver on the 2030 Agenda, the capacities and strengths of volunteers are indispensable. As the theme of this International Year of Volunteers rightly states: every contribution matters - matters more than we most times realize. And nowhere is this clearer than in the work of the United Nations Volunteer program. With a staff of just 150, UNV manages nearly 15,000 volunteers globally. They serve in more than 169 countries, supporting gender equality, climate resilience, economic development and youth engagement. Parents see the impact when children receive vaccination with the support of UN volunteers. Young people benefit when UN volunteers help run local schools and youth groups.”
4. Wide shot, Trusteeship Committee Chamber
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Annalena Baerbock, President, General Assembly, United Nations:
“Recognizing the essential role of volunteerism in sustainable development, I encourage all Member States to integrate volunteerism into national development strategies and SDG implementation plans. Volunteers must be visible not only today - in your policy frameworks, budgets, programming and action plans.”
6. Wide shot, Trusteeship Committee Chamber
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Annalena Baerbock, President, General Assembly, United Nations:
“As we commemorate this International Day and launch the International Year of Volunteers for Sustainable Development, let us remember what UN volunteer service truly looks like. It looks like clearing rubble after an earthquake in Afghanistan. It looks like children receiving vaccines. It looks like young people learning how to thrive in the digital sphere. It looks like the principles and the heart and soul of our United Nations.”
8. Wide shot, Trusteeship Committee Chamber
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President, Kazakhstan:
“It's a great honor for me to address this distinguished gathering on the occasion of the launch of the International Year of Volunteers for Sustainable Development. This milestone embodies our shared vision to empower voluntary years and strengthen their contribution to both national and global progress. Kazakhstan put forward this initiative, working closely together with our international partners. We firmly believe that volunteerism has become a powerful force for good, fostering civic engagement and progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals.”
10. Wide shot, Trusteeship Committee Chamber
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Ricklef Beutin, Ambassador, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Germany:
“UN Volunteers was the very first UN entity to establish its headquarters in Germany, in Bonn, and this pioneering decision really laid the foundation for what has since become a vibrant and steadily growing UN campus in Germany. And UN Volunteers serve as a campus manager, if you can use the term. And this role has been essential, really, in shaping a collaborative, modern and forward-looking UN environment that we have, and that today consists of more than two dozen UN organizations and really is a global center of excellence for sustainability, for climate action and innovation.”
12. Various shots, unveiling of the logo of the International Year of Volunteers for Sustainable Development
“As we accelerate efforts to deliver on the 2030 Agenda, the capacities and strengths of volunteers are indispensable,” UN General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock said today (5 Dec), opening the International Year of Volunteers for Sustainable Development.
Baerbock said that “every contribution matters - matters more than we most times realize,” pointing to the scale of the UN Volunteers (UNV) programme, which operates with “a staff of just 150” yet “manages nearly 15,000 volunteers globally.”
Those volunteers, she noted, are deployed in more than 169 countries supporting “gender equality, climate resilience, economic development and youth engagement.”
Their impact, she added, is visible on the ground: “Parents see the impact when children receive vaccination with the support of UN volunteers. Young people benefit when UN volunteers help run local schools and youth groups.”
Baerbock urged governments to embed volunteerism directly into national planning. “Recognizing the essential role of volunteerism in sustainable development, I encourage all Member States to integrate volunteerism into national development strategies and SDG implementation plans,” she said. “Volunteers must be visible not only today - in your policy frameworks, budgets, programming and action plans.”
Marking both the International Volunteer Day and the launch of the new yearlong observance, she described volunteer service as central to the UN’s identity. “It looks like clearing rubble after an earthquake in Afghanistan. It looks like children receiving vaccines. It looks like young people learning how to thrive in the digital sphere. It looks like the principles and the heart and soul of our United Nations.”
In a video address, Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev welcomed the global initiative, noting his country spearheaded the proposal. “This milestone embodies our shared vision to empower voluntary years and strengthen their contribution to both national and global progress,” he said. “We firmly believe that volunteerism has become a powerful force for good, fostering civic engagement and progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals.”
Germany’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ricklef Beutin, highlighted Bonn’s longstanding role in hosting UNV. “UN Volunteers was the very first UN entity to establish its headquarters in Germany, in Bonn,” he said. The decision, he added, “laid the foundation for what has since become a vibrant and steadily growing UN campus… a global center of excellence for sustainability, for climate action and innovation.”
The ceremony concluded with the unveiling of the logo for the International Year of Volunteers for Sustainable Development.
