On August 4, 2026, a working meeting for the preparations for the first Volunteers Forum of the Commonwealth of Independent States was held in a videoconference format.
The meeting was attended by representatives of:
- the Committee on Civil Society Affairs of the Ministry of Culture and Information of the Republic of Kazakhstan;
- the CIS basic organizations for the development of the volunteer movement and for scientific and methodological support of the volunteer movement;
- the CIS Executive Committee;
- leading volunteer organizations of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Uzbekistan.
The participants discussed the draft Program of the Forum, the formation of national delegations for participation in the Forum, and possible formats of a volunteer campaign of Forum’s participants and the final document.
The Forum will run from August 20 to 21 in Astana, Republic of Kazakhstan, under the key theme Unity through Volunteering: Partnership, Trust and Development.
It is expected that Forum’s participants will exchange experience in such topics as Environmental Volunteering and Sustainable Development, Volunteering for Equal Opportunities, Cultural Volunteering and Heritage, as well as develop areas of international cooperation in this field within the Commonwealth.