The UNDG report on “Delivering the post-2015 development agenda: Opportunities at the national and local levels” underlines the need to expand the concept of ‘means of implementation’ for the post-2015 agenda beyond traditional means such as finance, technology and institutional capacity building.

The report also highlights the need to engage communities in the design and implementation of the new development framework by stating: “Engagement and voluntary action can strengthen ownership, build individual capacity and help to address challenges in a sustainable way.” In particular, it mentions that “cross-sectoral partnerships and increased opportunities for civic engagement are needed to add value to the SDG implementation.”

UNV is co-leading the dialogues on Partnerships with Civil Society and is supporting countries organizing national dialogues on the six themes through its Field Units and dedicated post-2015 volunteers. UNV’s contribution to the post-2015 dialogues is summarized in a preliminary report.

In the UNDG report, messages from the dialogues on Partnerships with Civil Society explicitly stress the need to strengthen recognition of volunteerism and its added value: “To tap into the potential of volunteerism, public awareness also needs to be created about its benefits. Volunteerism can be seen as a cross-cutting means of implementation, producing benefits such as capacity-building, empowerment and social integration.”

The dialogues on Partnerships with Civil Society will conclude with a high-level event that summarizes outcomes from discussions held at the national and global level, scheduled for 20-21 October 2014 in Cambodia.