During the inaugural Olympism365 summit, held on June 4–5 in Lausanne, the FIVB and its Volleyball Foundation announced their decision to expand the Volley4Change program throughout the Pacific region, thus solidifying their role as a transformative force through sport. The president of the FIVB, Fabio Azevedo, participated in the final plenary session alongside Olympic champion Abhinav Bindra, where he emphasized the positive impact of volleyball beyond professional courts and its contribution to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Azevedo took the opportunity to highlight the FIVB’s strategic vision for 2032, focused on democratizing access to volleyball and turning it into a truly global movement. In this context, he reiterated his organization’s commitment and that of the Volleyball Foundation to expand Volley4Change in Vanuatu and other Pacific islands, stressing the need for initiatives that promote sporting values, inclusion, and social development in vulnerable communities.

Volley4Change and sport as a catalyst for social transformation

The Volley4Change program, now supported by the Volleyball Foundation established in 2024, aims to empower communities through sports projects focused on education, gender equality, and social cohesion. This expansion in the Pacific region represents a decisive step in the FIVB’s strategy to bring volleyball to places with limited access to sport, as already done in Vanuatu. This initiative adds to the Volleyball Empowerment Program, which since 2021 has funded over 1,489 projects in 205 countries.

During the summit, shared experiences like that of the Brahmaputra Volleyball League in India —which deeply moved Azevedo— illustrated how sport connects with local realities. Stories such as that of a 93-year-old woman who donates part of her pension to a children’s team, or of children playing barefoot with passion, reinforced the idea that sport plays a vital role in social transformation. In Azevedo’s words, “this gives us greater responsibility to lead our sport into society and allow more people to have access to it.”