United Nations Volunteers

Last updated
United Nations Volunteers
AbbreviationUNV
Formation7 December 1970;53 years ago (1970-12-07)
Legal statusActive
Headquarters Bonn, Germany
Head
Executive Coordinator of United Nations Volunteers
Toily Kurbanov
Parent organization
 United Nations Development Programme
Website www.unv.org
A coloured voting box.svg   Politicsportal

The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme is a United Nations organization that contributes to peace and development through volunteerism worldwide.

Contents

Volunteerism is a powerful means of engaging people in tackling development challenges, and it can transform the pace and nature of development. Volunteerism benefits both society at large and the individual volunteer by strengthening trust, solidarity and reciprocity among citizens, and by purposefully creating opportunities for participation.

UNV contributes to peace and development through a dual mandate: mobilizing UN Volunteers for the United Nations and advocating for recognition of volunteers as a way to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). UNV embraces volunteerism as universal and inclusive, and recognizes volunteerism in its diversity as well as the values that sustain it: free will, commitment, engagement and solidarity. In 2023 UNV deployed almost 13,000 UN Volunteers to over 56 UN partners in all regions of the world.

Based in Bonn, Germany, UNV is active in around 130 countries every year. UNV, with six regional offices and field units in many countries, is administered by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and reports to the UNDP Executive Board. [1]

History

In 1962, the US Peace Corps convened the International Conference on Middle Level Manpower in Puerto Rico, where the role of international volunteers helping to build skills in developing countries was promoted. [2] As a result, the International Peace Corps Secretariat, later the International Secretariat for Volunteer Service (ISVS), was created as a global organization to promote volunteer services for development around the world. [3] A United Nations Volunteers initiative was proposed in a speech at Harvard University on June 13, 1968, by Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi [4] and UNV was established 1970 by the UN General Assembly. [5] ISVS became instrumental in the establishment of UNV and was itself dissolved in 1976. [6] [7]

UNV was originally headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. In 1996, the headquarters moved to Bonn, Germany, specifically to Haus Carstanjen. [8] UNV headquarters moved to the former offices of the German Parliament in 2007.

Executive Coordinators of UNV, their nationalities and their time in the role:

Flag of Russia.svg Toily Kurbanov, 1 January 2021 to present
Flag of France.svg Olivier Adam (France), 2 January 2017 to 31 December 2020
Flag of the Netherlands.svg Richard Dictus (Netherlands), 2 January 2013 through most of 2016
Flag of Italy.svg Flavia Pansieri (Italy) February 2008 through most of 2012
Flag of the Netherlands.svg Ad de Raad (Netherlands), November 2003 (a.i), permanent in August 2004 through most of 2007
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Sharon Capeling-Alakija (Canada), 1 January 1998 - November 2003 (her death)
Flag of the United States.svg Brenda Gael McSweeney (USA), 1988 - 1997
Edward White, (a.i) exact dates unknown
Flag of Syria.svg Hikmat Nabulsi (Syria), appointed 1977, exact dates unknown [9]
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg John Gordon (Canada), appointed 1974, exact dates unknown
Flag of Iran.svg Assad K. Sadry (Iran), 1970 (first Coordinator of UNV) [10]

UN Volunteers

UNV directly mobilizes on average 10,000 people as UN Volunteers every year nationally and internationally, with 80 per cent coming from Global South, and, as of 2023, 64 per cent volunteering within their own countries. UN Volunteers receive a Volunteer Living Allowance (VLA), a financial allowance intended to cover basic living expenses each month. The minimum age for UN Volunteers is 18 years. There is no upper age limit. [11] UN Volunteers help to organize and run local and national elections and support a large number of peacekeeping and humanitarian projects. UN Volunteers comprise one third of all international civilians working in UN peacekeeping operations. [12]

With the UNV programme, individuals can volunteer in their own country (national volunteers), in a country different from their country of origin (international volunteers), or through the Internet (online volunteers).

Online Volunteering

In addition, UNV operates the Online Volunteering Service, [13] a web-based virtual volunteering platform for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) or other civil society organizations, governments or other public institutions, United Nations agencies or other intergovernmental institution to involve online volunteers in various projects. The service was launched in 2000 as a part of NetAid, which hosted and co-managed the service until 2005. The service operates in English, French [14] and Spanish. [15]

In 2022, over 8,000 people volunteers with the Online Volunteering service attracted applications from numerous qualified volunteers.

Online volunteers mobilized through the Online Volunteering service are volunteers for the organization with which they collaborate. Online Volunteers do not follow the same conditions of service than UN Volunteers e.g. they do not receive a contract from UNV as such, and do not receive a VLA. [16]

Plan of Action to Integrate Volunteering into the 2030 Agenda

Since 2012, integrating volunteerism into discussions around the post-2015 development agenda has been a priority for UNV. In 2014, UNV focused on supporting the second round of UNDG dialogues on implementation of the post-2015 development agenda. The dialogues were framed around six themes: localizing the post-2015 development agenda, helping to strengthen capacities and build effective institutions, participatory monitoring for accountability, partnerships with civil society, engaging with the private sector, and culture and development. UNV co-led the dialogues on partnerships with civil society and was strongly engaged in the dialogues on participatory monitoring for accountability. Field Units and Post-2015 International UN Youth Volunteers supported all six dialogues in several countries, contributing to and conducting local, national and global events and workshops to ensure stakeholders' voices were heard, good practices shared and concrete opportunities identified. [17]

To achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), people's engagement in planning, implementation and monitoring needs to be facilitated and new partnerships forged. Volunteers will be instrumental in this process. This has strongly emerged from an extensive consultation process led by the UN, which has involved over 8 million people, and was summarized as follows by the UN Secretary-General in his Synthesis Report on the post-2015 sustainable development agenda:

As we seek to build capacities and to help the new agenda to take root, volunteerism can be another powerful and cross-cutting means of implementation. Volunteerism can help to expand and mobilize constituencies, and to engage people in national planning and implementation for the Sustainable Development Goals. And volunteer groups can help to localize the new agenda by providing new spaces of interaction between governments and people for concrete and scalable actions.

At the seventieth session of the UN General Assembly, the Secretary-General presented a proposed Plan of Action for the next decade and beyond (2016–2030). This plan aims at integrating volunteering in peace and development policies and programmes through a strategic and collective long-term approach that matches the period of SDG implementation. [18]

The Plan of Action to Integrate Volunteering into the 2030 Agenda is a framework under the auspices of the United Nations through which Governments, United Nations entities, volunteer-involving organizations, private sector, civil society including academia and other stakeholders come together to integrate volunteerism into the planning and implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by: a) strengthening people's ownership of the development agenda; b) integrating volunteerism into national and global implementation strategies; and c) measuring volunteerism.

A global technical meeting on volunteering will take place virtually in 2020 as a special event on the margins of the 2020 High-level Political Forum (HLPF) in New York. A UN General Assembly resolution defines the meeting theme "Reimagining volunteering for the 2030 Agenda" and requests that the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme organize it jointly with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). The meeting will provide a platform to advance the debate on volunteering and identify how volunteering can accelerate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Advocacy for recognition of volunteers

In 2012 UNV launched the Volunteer Action Counts campaign to tell the world about the impact of volunteering by documenting the actions of volunteers across the globe. Over 64 million actions were counted by the time the Rio+20 summit took place — a "remarkable testament to bottom-up, grassroots commitment" yet one more demonstration of how Rio+20 is mobilizing a global movement for change, as the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, said to the United Nations General Assembly in 2012. The Volunteer Action Counts website and social media profiles continue to gather stories about volunteering and provide information about upcoming events, opportunities and best practices. [19] Likewise, through the Online Volunteering service newsletter, [20] UNV showcases experiences, best practices and lessons learned about volunteering via the Internet from organizations and volunteers worldwide.

UNV celebrates International Volunteer Day on 5 December every year.

State of the World's Volunteerism Report

2011 State of the World's Volunteerism Report Swvr homepagepic eng.jpg
2011 State of the World's Volunteerism Report

Every three years UNV produces the State of the World's Volunteerism Report, a flagship UN publication designed to strengthen understanding on volunteerism and demonstrate its universality, scope and reach in the twenty-first century.

The first State of the World's Volunteerism Report by UNV programme was launched at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, United States, on 5 December 2011 and about 80 countries around the world. [21] The report examined important contributions in diverse fields such as sustainable livelihoods, social inclusion, social cohesion and disaster risk reduction. By suggesting how volunteerism can be taken forward, the SWVR also provides an alternative vision of a better society.

The second State of the World's Volunteerism Report, Transforming Governance, was launched in June 2015. [22] It is a "review of the power of volunteer voices to help improve the way people are governed. [23] Drawing on evidence from countries as diverse as Brazil, Kenya, Lebanon and Bangladesh, the UN report shows how ordinary people are volunteering their time, energies and skills to improve the way they are governed and engaged at local, national and global levels. Better governance at every level is a pre-requisite for the success of the new set of targets for future international development, the Sustainable Development Goals". [23]

The 2018 State of the World's Volunteerism Report, The thread that binds: Volunteerism and community resilience, was launched on 18 July 2018 during the 2018 High Level Political Forum in New York, United States. [24] The report presents new evidence on the role of volunteerism in strengthening community resilience. It finds that communities value volunteerism because it enables them to create collective strategies for dealing with diverse economic, social and environmental challenges. At the same time, unless appropriately supported by wider actors, volunteering can be exclusive and burdensome for some groups. The report thus explores how governments and development actors can best engage with volunteerism to nurture its most beneficial characteristics, while militating against potential harm to the most vulnerable. In doing so, the report provides an important contribution to the evidence base on inclusive, citizen-led approaches to resilience-building.

The 2022 State of the World's Volunteerism Report, Building Equal and Inclusive Societies, was launched in December 2021. [25] The report finds that volunteerism can foster collaborative relationships and decision-making, bring more power equality between citizens and state authorities, and allow for different types of civic participation. [25]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Volunteer Day</span> Annual observance on 5 December

The International Volunteer Day for Economic and Social Development, more commonly referred to as International Volunteer Day (IVD), is an international observance mandated by the UN General Assembly in 1985. It offers an opportunity for volunteer-involving organizations and individual volunteers to promote volunteerism, encourage governments to support volunteer efforts, and recognize volunteer contributions to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at local, national, and international levels. International Volunteer Day is marked and supported by the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme. UNV coordinates a campaign to promote IVD every year.

Virtual volunteering refers to volunteer activities completed, in whole or in part, using the Internet and a home, school buildings, telecenter, or work computer or other Internet-connected device, such as a smartphone or a tablet. Virtual volunteering is also known as online volunteering, remote volunteering or e-volunteering. Contributing to free and open source software projects or editing Wikipedia are examples of virtual volunteering.

The UNESCO World Water Assessment Programme was founded in 2000 in response to a call from the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) to produce a UN system-wide periodic global overview of the status, use and management of freshwater resources. To meet this challenge, WWAP coordinates the work of 31 UN-Water members and international partners, under the umbrella mechanism of UN-Water, in the production of the World Water Development Report (WWDR). The WWDR is the UN flagship report on water issues; it is a comprehensive review, released every year with a different focus on different strategic water issues, that gives an overall picture of the state, use and management of the world’s freshwater resources and aims to provide decision-makers with tools to formulate and implement sustainable water policies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Post-2015 Development Agenda</span>

In the United Nations, the Post-2015 Development Agenda was a set of talks and discussion that led to the creation of the 2016 Sustainable Development Goals. This replaced the 2015 Millennium Development Goals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sustainable Development Goals</span> United Nations 17 sustainable development goals for 2030

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations members in 2015, created 17 world Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). They were created with the aim of "peace and prosperity for people and the planet..." – while tackling climate change and working to preserve oceans and forests. The SDGs highlight the connections between the environmental, social and economic aspects of sustainable development. Sustainability is at the center of the SDGs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Office of the Secretary-General's Envoy on Youth</span>

The Secretary-General's Envoy on Youth serves as a global advocate for addressing the needs and rights of young people for bringing the United Nations closer to them. The Envoy's Office is part of the United Nations Secretariat and supports multi-stakeholder partnerships related to the United Nations system-wide action plan on youth to volunteer initiatives. The office also promotes the empowerment and foster the leadership of youth at the national, regional, and global levels, including through exploring and encourages mechanisms for young people’s participation in the work of the United Nations and in political and economic processes with a special focus on the most marginalized and vulnerable youth.

International Year of Volunteers was designated for 2001 by the United Nations General Assembly. The initiative aimed at increased recognition, facilitation, networking and promotion of volunteering, to highlight the achievements of the millions of volunteers worldwide who devote their time to serving others, and to encourage more people globally to engage in volunteering.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sustainable Development Goal 6</span> Global goal to achieve clean water and sanitation for all people by 2030

Sustainable Development Goal 6 declares the importance of achieving "clean water and sanitation for all". It is one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations General Assembly to succeed the former Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). According to the United Nations, the overall goal is to: "Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all." The goal has eight targets to be achieved by 2030 covering the main areas of water supply and sanitation and sustainable water resource management. Progress toward the targets will be measured by using eleven indicators.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sustainable Development Goal 16</span> United Nations sustainable development goal

Sustainable Development Goal 16 is one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations in 2015, the official wording is: "Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels". The Goal has 12 targets and 23 indicators.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sustainable Development Goal 15</span> 15th of 17 Sustainable Development Goals to protect life on land

Sustainable Development Goal 15 is about "Life on land". One of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations in 2015, the official wording is: "Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss". The Goal has 12 targets to be achieved by 2030. Progress towards targets will be measured by 14 indicators.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sustainable Development Goal 17</span> Sustainable Development Goal by the UN

Sustainable Development Goal 17 is about "partnerships for the goals." One of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations in 2015, the official wording is: "Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development". SDG 17 refers to the need for the nonhegemonic and fair cross sector and cross country collaborations in pursuit of all the goals by the year 2030. It is a call for countries to align policies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sustainable Development Goal 13</span> UN goal to combat climate change

Sustainable Development Goal 13 is to limit and adapt to climate change. It is one of 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015. The official mission statement of this goal is to "Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts". SDG 13 and SDG 7 on clean energy are closely related and complementary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sustainable Development Goal 12</span> 12th of 17 Sustainable Development Goals to ensure responsible consumption and production

Sustainable Development Goal 12, titled "responsible consumption and production", is one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations in 2015. The official wording of SDG 12 is "Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns". SDG 12 is meant to ensure good use of resources, improve energy efficiency and sustainable infrastructure, provide access to basic services, create green and decent jobs, and ensure a better quality of life for all. SDG 12 has 11 targets to be achieved by at least 2030, and progress towards the targets is measured using 13 indicators.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sustainable Development Goal 11</span> 11th of 17 Sustainable Development Goals for sustainable cities

Sustainable Development Goal 11, titled "sustainable cities and communities", is one of 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015. The official mission of SDG 11 is to "Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable". The 17 SDGs take into account that action in one area will affect outcomes in other areas as well, and that development must balance social, economic and environmental sustainability.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sustainable Development Goals and Australia</span> Set of 17 global development goals defined by the United Nations for the year 2030

The "Sustainable Development Goals and Australia" describe how Australia participates in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) process. The SDGs are a collection of 17 global goals designed to be a "blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all". The SDGs, set in 2015 by the United Nations General Assembly and intended to be achieved by the year 2030, are part of a UN Resolution called "The 2030 Agenda". The targets and indicators for the SDGs are included in the UN Resolution adopted by the General Assembly two years later on 6 July 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sustainable Development Goals and Ghana</span> Set of 17 global development goals defined by the United Nations for the year 2030

The Sustainable Development Goals and Ghana describes how the Sustainable Development Goals are being implemented in Ghana. The SDGs are also known as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and are a set of seventeen global goals for 169 specific areas developed by the United Nations. The Sustainable Development Goals were formed in Rio de Janeiro in 2012 at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development. Its aimed to produce a set of universal goals claimed to meet the urgent environmental, economic and political problems facing the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sustainable Development Goals and Nigeria</span> Set of 17 global development goals defined by the United Nations for the year 2030

Sustainable Development Goals and Nigeria is about how Nigeria is implementing the Sustainable Development Goals within the thirty-six states and its Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) consist of seventeen global goals designed as a "blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all". Each of the 17 goals is expected to be achieved by 2030 in every country around the world.

Sustainable Development Goals and Lebanon explains major contributions launched in Lebanon towards the advancement of the Sustainable Development Goals SDGs and the 2030 agenda.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Disability and climate change</span>

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Paris Agreement, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) are connected through their common goals of addressing global challenges and promoting sustainable development through policies and international cooperation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ulrika Modéer</span> Swedish civil servant and diplomat

Eva Maria Ulrika Modéer is a Swedish civil servant and diplomat who has been the head of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)'s Director of the External Relations and Advocacy Bureau as well as the assistant secretary-general of the organisation since 2018. She has since became the highest ranking Swede in the system of the United Nations (UN), along with Åsa Regnér.

References

  1. ↑ https://www.unv.org/about-unv/who-we-arel%5B%5D
  2. ↑ "Ministry Paper No. 60" (PDF). National Library of Jamaica. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 October 2017.
  3. ↑ Lough, Benjamin J. "The Evolution of International Volunteering" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 August 2017.
  4. ↑ "Speech Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi at Harvard University" (PDF). harvardmag.com.[ dead link ]
  5. ↑ Chronology UN Volunteers Archived 2014-10-18 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ↑ Heywood, Linda M. (1981). "International research on volunteers abroad". In D. H. Smith; F. Elkin (eds.). Volunteers, voluntary associations, and development. E.J. Brill=Leiden, Netherlands.
  7. ↑ "Story Map Journal". arcgis.com. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  8. ↑ UNITED NATIONS: VOLUNTEERS PROGRAMME TO SHIFT TO BONN
  9. ↑ Not Only a Refugee: An American UN Volunteer in the Philippines by Eleanor Grogg Stewart
  10. ↑ "United Nations Volunteers: Chronology". Archived from the original on 2014-10-18. Retrieved 2014-10-10., June 8, 2009 version archived at archive.org
  11. ↑ "Frequenlty Asked Questions on how to volunteer onsite". unv.org. Archived from the original on 15 June 2016. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  12. ↑ "United Nations Volunteers". unv.org. Archived from the original on 31 May 2016. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  13. ↑ "Home - UNV Online Volunteering service". www.onlinevolunteering.org. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  14. ↑ "UNV's Online Volunteering service has received a financial contribution from the Federal Public Service (FPS) Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation of the Kingdom of Belgium to support the outreach to the francophone world". onlinevolunteering.org. Archived from the original on 1 April 2016. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  15. ↑ "As part of the long-standing partnership of UNV with the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), the Online Volunteering service has received a financial contribution from AECID to support the outreach to the hispanophone world". onlinevolunteering.org. Archived from the original on 28 March 2016. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  16. ↑ "Online Volunteering service, Terms of Use". onlinevolunteering.org. Archived from the original on 26 March 2016. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  17. ↑ Achieving the Global Goals: why volunteers are important Archived 2016-03-15 at the Wayback Machine
  18. ↑ "UN Resolution: Integrating volunteering into peace and development - the plan of action for the next decade and beyond". unv.org. Archived from the original on 9 October 2016. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  19. ↑ "About Volunteer Action Counts". volunteeractioncounts.org.
  20. ↑ "Home - UNV Online Volunteering service". onlinevolunteering.org. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  21. ↑ "United Nations Volunteers: Report". Archived from the original on 2013-11-28. Retrieved 2013-10-11.
  22. ↑ "2015 State of the World's Volunteerism Report (SWVR) - Transforming Governance". www.unv.org. Retrieved 2023-02-21.
  23. 1 2 "SWVR 2015". volunteeractioncounts.org.
  24. ↑ "SWVR 2018: resilient communities". www.unv.org. Retrieved 2023-02-21.
  25. 1 2 "Home Page". UNV SWVR 2022. Retrieved 2023-02-21.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.