At the heart of the UNV approach is the conviction that voluntary action by millions of people in programme countries and elsewhere , is a vastly under recognized and under-utilised resource that needs to be strategically engaged if the challenge of attaining the MDGs is to be successful . The International Year of Volunteers ( InIYV ) , 2001 , IYV brought into sharper focus the potential of volunteerism to deliver far-reaching , wide-ranging economic and social returns .