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United Nations Volunteer

Volunteering in Motion

Volunteerism is a unique way to bring people together for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. Through volunteerism, communities are engaged and build their own sustainable futures. In 2018, as every year since the founding of UNV in 1971, we mobilized volunteers to contribute to the priorities and uphold the values of the United Nations.

The integration of volunteerism into the United Nations system is anchored in the strong relationships between UNV and our United Nations partners. While, UN Volunteers actively contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

The UNV Annual Report 2018, Volunteering in Motion, puts together our latest results and achievements, and demonstrates how UN Volunteers continue to make an impact in all five pillars of sustainable development: planet, people, prosperity, peace and partnerships.

EXECUTIVE BRIEFING

Words of Welcome

Olivier Adam, UNV Executive Coordinator, meets members in one of the 26 Territorial Training and Reincorporation Spaces in Colombia. (Cristina Segarra/ UNV, 2018)

The long-term trend towards increased demand for national UN Volunteers continued in 2018: 45 per cent of all UN Volunteers worldwide compared to 40 per cent the year before. National UN Volunteers enable UNV partners to strengthen national ownership and local capacities, engage local citizens and empower communities. The ratio of women UN Volunteers remained stable at 47 per cent for the second year running. This year, UNV has explicitly sought out and recommended highly qualified women candidates to its United Nations partners for selection.

In 2018, 81 per cent of UN Volunteers were from the Global South. This number represents a major contribution by UNV to South-South cooperation, bringing people from the South together to find solutions to development challenges through exchanges and transfer of skills, knowledge and best practices between counterparts.

The average age of a UN Volunteer in 2018 was 35, while the number of UN Youth Volunteers, who are between 18 and 29 years of age, increased from 8 per cent in 2017 to 11 per cent in 2018. This year, UNV continued working with UN Member States and other partners on the recognition of volunteering under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

With our new and more fit-for-purpose organizational structure, along with advances in national volunteering, innovation and strong partnerships, we will maintain our drive to leave no one behind and ensure the benefits of volunteerism are recognized throughout the world.

We share our thanks to Members States for their confidence in UNV and their support, to United Nations partners for their close collaboration and to UN Volunteers for their selfless contributions to peace and development around the world.

Olivier Adam, Executive Coordinator, UNV

STATISTICS

OUR VOLUNTEER NUMBERS

19%

From the global North

81%

From the global South

7,201

UN Volunteers served with 38 UN entity partners

Globe
Gender man stats

53%

Men

Gender man stats

47%

Women

2,136

served with UNDPKO/UNDPA

848

served with UNHCR

2,286

served with UNDP

1,800

UN Volunteers under the age of 29

29,6%

of them women

161

Countries of origin

Flag

146

Countries of assignment

Flag

NUMBERS

OUR UN ONLINE VOLUNTEERS

Online volunteering allows organizations and volunteers to team up to address sustainable development challenges – anywhere in the world, from any device. Online volunteering is fast, easy – and most of all, effective. When skilled, passionate individuals join forces online with organizations working toward sustainable development goals, everyone wins.

Online Volunteers 0

Online Volunteers

Women 0 %

From global South

Assignment 0 %

Women

Organizations 0

UN entities

numbers-south 0

Civil society organizations

  • RESULTS DELIVERED

    The 2018 Secretary-General’s Report on Volunteering was presented at the 73rd UN General Assembly, followed by the adoption of resolution A/Res/73/140 on the promotion of a conducive environment for volunteerism through the Plan of Action , to enhance the sustainability of development results. UNV also published the triennial flagship State of the World’s Volunteerism Report , providing important new analysis on the role of local volunteers in resilience-building.

    2018 was also a critical year for the organization in implementing the 2017 structural and strategic transformation of UNV, in line with the larger United Nations reform.

    As a more decentralized and streamlined organization, UNV, through the deployment of UN Volunteers to our United Nations partners, made a significant impact in all five Ps of the Sustainable Development Goals: Planet, People, Prosperity, Peace and Partnerships.

UNV FUNDING PARTNERS 2016-2018

VOLUNTEERS THROUGH PARTNERSHIPS

UNV thanks its UN Member State partners for their generous contributions in support of volunteerism for sustainable development and peace.

UN Member States are listed by magnitude of contributions received during the three year period 2016-2018.*

* Amounts indicated are in thousands of US dollars.

2016 2017 2018
SE Sweden
974
2,508
5,885
KR Republic of Korea
2,494
3,670
4,137
DE Germany
4,358
4,603
3,860
CH Switzerland
1,276
1,701
1,786
FR France
933
2,078
1,307
JP Japan
723
1,542
1,133
RU Russia
- -
1,004
NO Norway
-
763
867
FI Finland
628
829
859
2016 2017 2018
IE Ireland
556
532
575
LU Luxembourg
418
-
491
CZ Czech Republic
249
336
360
GB United Kingdom
165
125
147
CN China
30
30
30
IN India
-
15
20
BD Bangladesh
-
1
3
KZ Kazakhstan
2
2
2
TH Thailand
-
71
2

UNITED NATIONS PARTNERS 2018

VOLUNTEERS FOR PARTNERS

UNV is as strong as its partnerships. UN Volunteers deliver on sustainable development for our United Nations partners.

Refer to our partnering pages for detailed information on our collaboration with key UN entity partners:  https://www.unv.org/united-nations-partners

partners_icongraphic UNDP 2286 Volunteers UN Peacekeeping 2136 Volunteers UNHCR 848 Volunteers UNICEF 420 Volunteers UNFPA 257 Volunteers Un Women 230 Volunteers WHO 221 Volunteers UNRWA 126 Volunteers WFP 116 Volunteers UNEP 105 Volunteers UNODC 84 Volunteers OHCHR 70 Volunteers UNOCHA 70 Volunteers IOM 46 Volunteers UN-Habitat 37 Volunteers FAO 28 Volunteers UNESCO 21 Volunteers UNSOS 21 Volunteers UNOGBIS 18 Volunteers
  • UNDP

    2286 Volunteers

  • UN Peacekeeping

    2136 Volunteers

  • UUNHCR

    848 Volunteers

  • UNICEF

    420 Volunteers

  • UNFPA

    257 Volunteers

  • UN Women

    230 Volunteers

  • WHO

    221 Volunteers

  • UNRWA

    126 Volunteers

  • WFP

    116 Volunteers

  • UNEP

    105 Volunteers

  • UNODC

    84 Volunteers

  • OHCHR

    70 Volunteers

  • UN0CHA

    70 Volunteers

  • IOM

    46 Volunteers

  • Un-Habitat

    37 Volunteers

  • FAO

    28 Volunteers

  • UNESCO

    21 Volunteers

  • UNSOS

    21 Volunteers

  • UN0GBIS

    18 Volunteers

LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION!

Volunteers advance sustainable development every day by fostering participation, building social cohesion and promoting dialogue within communities. They serve with UN partners, working tirelessly in support of their development, peace and humanitarian efforts. In these videos, we feature inspiring UN Volunteers in action.

UN Youth Volunteer pre-assignment training
Learning is central to engagement of UN #Youth #Volunteers – before their assignment, UNV equips them with tools to work on frontlines of @UN political, development & humanitarian field operations.
UN Youth Volunteers: the Agents of Change for Tomorrow
UNV promotes youth participation through volunteering, offering opportunities for young people to engage and contribute to peace and development as UN Youth Volunteers.
Voices from Dzaleka Refugee Camp
As part of the publication of the State of the World's Volunteerism Report, this video brings voices of volunteers from the Dzaleka Refugee Camp in Malawi.
2018 State of the World's Volunteerism Video: The thread that binds
Video about the 2018 State of the World's Volunteerism Video: The thread that binds.
WHAT ABOUT YOU?

READY TO PARTNER WITH UNV?

UNV partners with you to mobilize skilled UN Volunteers who make valuable contributions, advance your delivery and provide strong results.

UN Volunteers are one of the our integrated talent solutions available to the UN system and development community. Different categories of UN Volunteers are available, offering flexible solutions to the needs of United Nations entities, governments, public institutions and civil society organizations.

UNV has developed service lines to provide partners with a set of standardized volunteer assignments in areas such as monitoring and evaluation, electoral support, health emergencies, and in support of international and national events, the Resident Coordinator system or UN partners at headquarters duty stations.

Are you investing in UN Volunteers? Read more about how to Host a UN Volunteer and contact us .

READY TO BECOME A UN VOLUNTEER?

UN Volunteers deliver results for sustainable development and peace at the grassroots. Become a volunteer !

Visit our website for more information on how to register as a UN Volunteer in your country or abroad, or as a UN Online Volunteer.